Revelstoke city council passed a new bylaw to provide fire protection services for rural Revelstoke.
The agreement was passed with unanimous support at regular city council on Dec. 13 after it was read a first, second and third time at the Nov. 28 meeting.
Mayor Mark McKee said the agreement was passed in case the Columbia Shuswap Regional District agree to the deal currently on the table.
“We are doing our end of the paperwork to be ready just in case this comes to fruition, which I hope that it does,” said McKee. “I think that this is a good deal and a reasonable deal for the regional district to be accepting.”
Without an agreement in place and accepted by both parties, residents of rural Revelstoke may not have any firefighters responding to calls in the new year.
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The bylaw was passed so that council won’t need to call a special meeting in case the CSRD decide to move forward with the deal on the table.
The CSRD have not agreed to the current offer by the City of Revelstoke and will be in front of a judge on Dec. 18 to ask for an injunction so that fire services continue into 2018.
This article has been updated to reflect that the rural fire services agreement affects residents of rural Revelstoke, not just South Revelstoke. A map has also been added for visual context.
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