Fire suppression services will continue to Sept. 1 for Columbia Shuswap Regional District Area B residents under the existing contract with the City of Revelstoke.
Since the Supreme Court injunction to extend the deadline to June 1, the city and the regional district have been continuing negotiations, however no agreement has been reached.
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In a letter to the property owners dated May 29, 2018, Darcy Mooney, manager of operations for the district, said mediation is scheduled for July and an agreement is expected to be finalized by August.
The city has been providing the service to CSRD Electoral Area B under an agreement crafted between the two organizations in 1980.
Negotiations to modernize the agreement have been ongoing since 2014.
A draft agreement was created by the regional district in March of 2017. The city responded with an proposal of their own.
Loni Parker, regional director for our area, said the initial contract from the city was no acceptable.
The city wanted to see the district purchase a 3,000 gallon water tender for the area as well as Utility Task Vehicle, which would be extremely costly for the 249 property owners in the area, said Parker.
The number of calls for fire suppression services is around five calls per year, according to Jodi Pierce, finance manager for the regional district.
Under the original contract, the regional district contributes money every year for fire suppression. In 2017 the total was $135,000, based on property assessments. In the end it is 6-8 per cent of the annual fire services budget for the Revelstoke Fire Department.
The proposed agreement also downgraded the coverage to exterior suppression only at a cost that was 10 per cent more than what city residents pay.
Without fire protection services, property owners, some of whose homes are in the neighbourhood of $4 million, would be looking at a huge jump in insurance costs – if they could get insurance.
CSRD May2918 Fire Services Agreement Letter by Revelstoke Editor on Scribd
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