By rdnewsNOW staff

New Agreement

Regional agreement reached for fire rescue services

Apr 1, 2020 | 7:29 AM

Clearwater County has joined the Town of Rocky Mountain House and Village of Caroline in signing a new five-year Intermunicipal Regional Fire Rescue Services Agreement.

County officials say the agreement follows three separate special meetings of council held on Mar. 23, and outlines terms and conditions for shared costs and resources, while identifying Clearwater County as the managing partner.

Effective Apr. 1, officials say the agreement works in the spirit of community and regional efficiencies, and is one of three agreements being discussed in mediation between the three municipalities.

The others include the Rocky Mountain Regional Solid Waste Authority agreement and revenue sharing agreements currently under discussion.

“Council is pleased to see a new agreement in place that reflects the community aspect where our region has come together, demonstrating commitment to public safety, especially during unprecedented times like this COVID-19 outbreak,” says Clearwater County Reeve Tim Hoven, in a joint press release. “The new agreement provides cost efficiencies for the respective municipalities and enhanced business continuity by eliminating the need for three administrative and council level approval processes, where previous conflicts have stalled operating and capital program activities and management.”

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Officials say the agreement takes into account the operation of a regional fire service with five fire stations within Clearwater County’s municipal boundaries, including stations in the Town of Rocky Mountain House, Village of Caroline, and the hamlets of Condor, Leslieville and Nordegg, and a headquarters station in Rocky Mountain House.

The fire stations in Rocky Mountain House and Village of Caroline remain under the ownership of the respective municipalities.

As Managing Partner, Clearwater County is responsible for operations of the five fire stations and headquarters (headquarters staffs four full-time staff), as well as the employer of record for the approximately 85 paid on call firefighters who respond to fire rescue calls.

The Managing Partner’s role through CRFRS includes firefighter recruitment and training; fleet and equipment management; materials and supplies management; and general fire rescue operations oversight.

The Managing Partner is to also ensure appropriate fire rescue response availability through the paid on call responders, with headquarter staff as the backstop, and that the training/operations meets employer duties under occupational health and safety and other employment legislation.

“The Town of Rocky Mountain House is committed to municipal collaboration,” adds Tammy Burke, Mayor for the Town of Rocky Mountain House. “The new regional fire agreement provides for equitable and fair costing of fire service, and a more efficient governance model. On behalf of the entire Town Council, I offer my sincerest appreciation to the regional volunteer firefighters and members of the public for their patience while we sorted out the best possible agreement.”

“I would also like to thank the firefighters for their ongoing and selfless commitment to the community,” continues Burke. “Residents can continue to count on reliable and professional service from our emergency responders.”

Officials say the most notable changes to the agreement was the change to the cost share formula between the municipalities, for both operational and capital costs.

CRFRS’ operational costs are shared as follows: 75.75 per cent County; 23.25 per cent Town; and one per cent Village.

Capital costs vary depending on location of the asset.

Station #10 (Leslieville) 100% County

Station #20 (Condor) 100% County

Station #30 (Caroline) 2% Village and 98% County

Station #50 (Nordegg) 100% County

Station #60 (Rocky) 50% County and 50% Town

Station #90 (Headquarters) 75.75% County; 23.25% Town; 1% Village

It’s also noted there have been no material changes to the regional fire service, nor degradation of CRFRS service levels.

Village of Caroline mayor John Rimmer says his council is elated all three councils have given approval to the regional fire agreement.

“We do believe the new agreement will provide our regional fire service the stability, and governance required to serve our region with the outstanding service we have become accustomed to,” says Rimmer. “With this new agreement in place, Caroline Council expects our regional fire service to experience less interference from too many levels of governance and can focus primarily on the delivery of top quality fire service moving forward.”

“Caroline Council would like to thank the mediation teams and mediators for the result from the numerous meetings and for their dedication to the process,” he continues. “We would also like to thank the Town of Rocky Mountain House for hosting the meetings.”

Officials say the agreement facilitates a more efficient decision-making process, with the positive change to utilizing the existing Intermunicipal Collaboration Committee (ICC) as the committee structure to review budget and service levels – instead of having a separate fire committee to do the same.

In addition, the operational cost share is now more reflective of overall fire service response/utilization by the respective municipalities and capital cost shares are specific to fire station/asset locations.