County of Barrhead approves fire department's 2020 budget

BARRHEAD - Despite expressing concerns about additional administrative hours and attendance at an international firefighting conference, County of Barrhead councillors voted 6-0 during their Dec. 17 meeting to approve the Barrhead Regional Fire Services 2020 operating budget, along with the three-year operating plan.

The 2020 operating budget includes expenses totaling $855,200, of which the county’s contribution is $459,510.

Meanwhile, the 2019 operating budget equaled $848,427 in expenses, although the actual expenses for the year are expected to be slightly lower than projected, to the tune of about $5,700. The county’s budgeted contribution was $485,072, a difference of about $25,000 from this year.

County manager Debbie Oyarzun reminded councillors that the municipality pays for 100 per cent of expenses relating to fire calls in the county and 50 per cent of shared administrative expenses, with the Town of Barrhead picking up the other half.

As reported in the Dec. 17 edition of the Barrhead Leader, county councillors had expressed some concerns over items in the budget during a Dec. 9 joint council meeting.

During that meeting Coun. Darrell Troock questioned an increase in hours for the fire services’ administrative clerk from 32.5 to 37.5, as well as the cost of sending firefighters to the Fire Department Instructors’ Conference (FDIC) in Indianapolis, Indiana from April 20-25, 2020.

Troock, who was absent Dec. 17, asked why additional administrative hours were needed when the position of deputy chief had been created specifically to handle extra paperwork.

He also questioned the importance of attending the FDIC at a time when the county was facing fiscal challenges due to tax arrears owed by oil and gas companies.

Reeve Doug Drozd had also wondered if the money spent on attending the FDIC wouldn’t be better used for counseling firefighters.

At the Dec. 17 meeting, Drozd said he thought that the fire chief and deputy fire chief have a lot more documentation to deal with than ever before, and new Occupational Health and Safety regulations taking effect Jan. 1 would pose an additional burden.

“Their No. 1 job, I think, is to keep the guys in the fire hall safe … and to look after the mental wellbeing of the volunteers as well,” he said, noting the fire chief and deputy chief also spend more time looking after equipment.

Drozd said he believed the fire chief when he said he is working 60 to 80 hours a week, and he also believed the additional five hours for the administrative clerk would be “well worth it” to help smooth matters out.

On the subject of the FDIC, Drozd said he believed that the five-day conference would be of great value to the department, noting some of the courses relating to vehicle extraction and “commercial fireground operations” (ie. firefighting in big buildings) would be especially valuable.

“I asked myself the question: why would you not want a better-skilled fire services?”

Drozd also suggested the idea of using the conference as a “reward” for firefighters is a little deeper than it appears, as those chosen are potentially the next leaders of the Barrhead Regional Fire Services.

While the local fire services has done a great job of getting basic training done in-house, he conceded it would be money well-spent if they felt attending the FDIC would be beneficial.

“Having looked at this and listened to what the chief had to say, I’m personally OK with the operating budget as presented by the committee,” he said.

Coun. Bill Lane only raised a mild objection, pointing out that councillors are themselves putting stuff off for one or two more years because of their fiscal situation, and the FDIC occurs every two years.

Coun. Marvin Schatz said that the department making adjustments to their budget in other areas to accommodate attending the FDIC demonstrates its importance to the local fire services.