The North Battleford city council in Saskatchewan, Canada, has signed off on one policy aimed at firefighter recruitment and a contract to shore up the city’s water supply.
On the 8 September, council adopted a policy that allows out-of-scope employees to also serve as paid-on-call firefighters.
Mayor Kelli Hawtin said the change comes after some staff showed interest.
Hawtin explained: “We’ve been struggling with recruiting more paid on-call firefighters for a few years and our city manager said we have out-of-scope employees that are interested in being paid on-call firefighters.”
“So, we’ve developed this policy so that there’s a framework and agreement we can have so those out of scope employees have an opportunity.”
The fire department has 12 full-time members but only nine paid-on-call firefighters, well short of the 15 allowed.
The administration noted in its report to council: “The city has experienced diminished responses for our recruitment efforts over the past few years which is a growing problem for many communities across Canada.”
The report also pointed out that industry groups like the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs and International Association of Fire and Rescue Services have flagged shrinking volunteer numbers due to increasing demands on people’s time, rigorous training and more dual-income households.
Hawtin stressed city workers won’t be double-paid if they leave work to respond to a fire.
She continued: “They’re not double dipping. They’re not going to get paid their salary at work, plus their firefighter salary.”
Council also approved a $216,791 project to drill a new water production well using leftover budget funds from two earlier wells.
Hawtin said it’s about keeping the system sustainable.
She explained: “Our well treatment plant has reduced capacity because we have used the wells there so much over the years. We can rejuvenate the wells to a certain point, but at a certain point they need to be replaced.”
She noted two wells have already been completed under budget and this year the city still has room to add another.
“So it’s about using that budget that was provided to the staff and getting a third well done.”
Both measures passed unanimously.
The North Battleford city council in Saskatchewan, Canada, has signed off on one policy aimed at firefighter recruitment and a contract to shore up the city’s water supply.
