Mountain View County (MVC) councillors have approved a new fire protection agreement with the Town of Olds, which, among other things, creates an operating reserve that did not exist under the previous agreement.
“We have what we feel is a good agreement,” said MVC reeve Bruce Beattie.
During last week's regularly scheduled council meeting, councillors heard the new agreement is the result of negotiations between the municipalities over the past number of months.
The cost implications of the new agreement include an increase in the bay rental rate for the county from $12,850 to $19,572 per year.
“The operating budget is expected to increase slightly as a result of the addition of cost sharing per capita for additional staff costs previously covered exclusively by the Town of Olds,” CAO Tony Martens said in a note to council.
“However, the budget estimates provided to support the agreement reflect comparable requests for 2013 vs. 2012 - $164,000 and $165,000 respectively.”
There are a number of changes from the previous agreement, including the following:
• All fires requiring reporting under the Safety Codes Act of Alberta and its regulations shall be reported in the manner outlined within the Safe Codes Act to the Office of the Fire Commissioner. Upon completion of a fire investigation the fire chief shall ensure a copy of the report submitted to the Office of the Fire Commissioner will be provided to the county.
• Highway calls and medical assists will not be classified as rural or municipal (town) for the purposes of calculating variable cost.
• Facility upgrades will be reviewed by both municipalities and may be approved such that both municipalities share equally. The town can perform any facility upgrade deemed necessary by the town at its own expense.
• Twenty-five per cent of the revenue generated from fire calls will be allocated to cover expenses incurred responding to these calls. Sixty-five per cent of the revenue will be allocated to the capital reserve account, and 10 per cent will be allocated to an operating reserve that will be capped at $50,000. If the operating reserve exceeds the capped amount, the 10 per cent will be allocated to the capital reserve.
• Should the agreement be terminated, the town and county “may purchase any shared equipment at a value determined by the tangible capital asset value, less the percentage of ownership” and “any equipment the county paid for 100 per cent of the capital cost will be transferred to the county for $1.”
• The agreement is updated to include cost sharing for all fire department administrative costs, including full fire chief costs. Dispatch fees will be paid independently by each municipality as per the signed dispatch agreement with City of Red Deer Emergency Services.
MVC has been updating fire agreements with all partner municipalities within the county.
