Council one step closer to paid fire chief position in Kentville

BY KIRK STARRATT

kstarratt@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

The establishment of a paid fire chief position for the Kentville Volunteer Fire Department (KVFD) is one step closer to reality following a recommendation from Kings County council’s committee of the whole (COTW).

Kentville town councillor Bill Boyd, chair of the joint fire service committee, said during a presentation to county councillors at the Tuesday, June 16 COTW session that the non-profit society that operates the Kentville fire department has been working for several years toward having a full-time paid chief like they do in communities such as Windsor, Yarmouth and Truro. If the proposal moves forward, the Joint Fire Service Agreement would have to be modified.

Boyd said the activity of the department has increased significantly, with Kentville responding to about twice as many calls as other larger fire departments in the county based on call statistics provided by Valley Communications. This accounts for about 25 per cent of all fire calls in the county.

Currently, the joint service agreement provides for shared costs to include honoraria for the chief, two deputy chiefs and the active members of the department. If a new permanent chief were to be added to the service, the agreement would have to be amended to deal with the salary, role and responsibilities of the fire chief.

Want to ensure monitoring, control

Both municipal partners, the county and the Town of Kentville, want to ensure effective monitoring and control of the paid position. Kentville town council passed a motion to the effect that this control would be best achieved by having the position hosted by a municipality or a joint municipal corporation.

Boyd said, after considering this motion and the intent behind it carefully, the joint service committee proposes that the chief be an employee of the KVFD society, but that the committee be fully engaged in setting qualifications and standards for the chief position; establishing the requirements for an open recruitment process, with participation from municipal representatives and a paid chief from another fire department; setting employment conditions and term and dismissal provisions of an employment contract (for example, two of the three parties could request a dismissal); and providing general direction to the chief in terms of those services covered by the inter-municipal agreement. The current agreement would be amended to reflect these considerations.

Councillor Jim Taylor asked if it would be ludicrous to have a paid chief to serve all fire departments in the county. Boyd said he isn’t suggesting it’s an impossible scenario, but a detailed fire service report commissioned by the Kings Partnership Steering Committee a few years ago contained a recommendation for a governance model where there would be a chief and officers to oversee the entire fire service in the county.

Several of the report’s 60-plus recommendations dealt with governance, but the task force didn’t feel these recommendations could be dealt with at the time because it was bogging down discussion of other issues. Therefore, the recommendations were parked.

Challenges fellow councillors

Councillor Wayne Atwater said he challenges his fellow councillors to call all the other fire chiefs in the county to ask them what they think of establishing a paid fire chief position in Kentville. He suggested the others would say they want to be paid too and, in his opinion, if you pay one you would have to pay all 13. He called for a recorded vote on the matter. “Some chiefs want to know,” he said. “They’re not saying anything publicly, but talk to them privately.”

Boyd pointed out this is not a financial addition to the budget and that honoraria have been paid for a number of years. This would be a change in funding from an honorarium to a full-time paid position. “The money has been in the budget for a number of years in a different form,” he said.

Councillor Eric Smith said he has received several calls from fire departments on the matter and it would be well worth talking to each of the chiefs in the county. “We can’t just let it go,” he said. “We have to stand up for one and all.”

Councillor Janet Newton said she thinks people are missing the point and the report presented by Boyd is not about whether or not to have a paid fire chief; it’s about how to hire and direct a paid chief. She reiterated that the money is already available in the department’s budget.

How much will it cost?

Deputy Warden Diana Brothers said she is concerned with the precedent that would be set. The department’s budget is up 6.1 per cent this year and she pointed out it would be nice to know the exact figure budgeted for the paid chief’s position. She asked if it was a matter that the presenter didn’t want to say the amount in public, but Boyd said he did not have the figure readily available.

Kentville Chief Administrative Officer Keith Robicheau said later the cost range for the position would likely be between $65,000 and $70,000 for a 12-month period, considering the salary and added expenses such as benefits and training costs. He pointed out the actual salary would have to be negotiated with the successful applicant.

Councillor Dick Killam said establishing a paid chief position for Kentville would set a precedent, but it’s an important precedent. He said he doesn’t see any problem with exploring paying other department chiefs in a pro-rated manner. He said the county has had a bargain with strong volunteer departments and there isn’t a councillor around the horseshoe that could argue with that. “We need to encourage more volunteers to join and having a strong commitment at the senior level might help. People would probably move out of the county if they had to pay for the fire service,” he said

Recently, Killam experienced a fire at his home. Fighting back tears, he said, “until you call and need them, you don’t know how important they are.”

Lighten the load

Atwater said Kentville is an extremely busy department. He asked if any consideration has been given to changing their boundaries to lighten their load.

Newton said she represents many citizens within the department’s coverage area and it’s not as simple as changing the boundaries. Many have contributed to the department for years and some volunteer. She said her citizens are highly satisfied with the quality of service they receive.

Councillors voted 6-4 in favour of recommending approval of the amendments to the Joint Fire Service Agreement to council. Atwater, Brothers, Smith and Warden Fred Whalen voted against it. Final approval could come at the July 7 monthly session.

Later in the day Brothers moved successfully to recommend to council that a staff report be prepared in time for the December 2009 COTW session to explore the possibility of paying all fire chiefs in the county currently not being paid as full-time chiefs.