Wheatland County fire board bylaw passes first reading

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

Wheatland County Council passed first reading for a fire board, in a new bylaw passed on Jan. 8.
Council requested staff draft the bylaw, after a planning and priorities meeting discussion.
“After first reading of the bylaw, if necessary, staff will prepare any amendments to the bylaw for second and third reading at a meeting of council’s choosing,” said Judy Unsworth, regional fire.
Unsworth stated that there is an informal group that has recently dealt with discussions on fire issues, but the bylaw will formally recognize decisions forwarded to council.
The bylaw states that the board will be made up of three council members, five people from the various fire associations and two county citizens at large. No one serving as a volunteer firefighter may sit on the board.
The board will appoint a council member from the board as chair and vice-president of the board. Council can appoint members if a vacancy arises during the one-year term. Council also has the option to remove a person from the board, but those removed may apply to sit again the following year. A shortage of members will not affect the board’s actions. Decisions will be reached by consensus of members at the meeting, and those decisions will be considered as the decisions of the missing board members.
A quorum consists of whoever shows up to the meeting.
The regional fire chief and another fire chief of their choosing can attend the meeting, but not vote on issues, and they may bring issues forward to the board.
The board would have responsibility to review the fire capital and operational budget, handle inter-municipal disputes, give annual and post-event reviews of procedure, training and equipment, as well as prepare long-term fire planning. They will do long-term planning and update the fire master plan, which includes equipment and capital purchases.
An independent review of the budget will be generated yearly, with help from administration, and then be given to the board for review and recommendations. It is forwarded to council by September each year, for council’s final decision.
Volunteer fire personnel issues of the third-party fire departments in the county will come to the board for decisions. Municipal council will be the avenue for appeal on those matters. Which municipal council is not stated in the bylaw.
Post-event reviews will be done by the board considering fire guidelines. The on-scene fire procedures are dictated by fire department standard operating procedures. All final decisions will be reviewed and voted on by council.
Recommendations for mutual fire aid agreements will be developed by the board.
The board will also handle citizen complaints.
The fire board bylaw is separate from the fire bylaw, which has gone back for revisions as a result of investigations by the provincial fire commission.
The fire board bylaw comes back to council on Feb. 5 for second and third reading.