MAPLETON – Mapleton council has given its approval to a comprehensive plan to improve its fire department.
At its Tuesday meeting, Mapleton council endorsed the fire master plan which included 60 recommendations aimed at improving service delivery fire department, made up of two volunteer fire stations in Drayton and Moorefield with one full-time chief.
The endorsement does not set in stone council following through with all recommendations, nor does it set a timeline, but is a guide for improving the fire department as the town grows.
“We look at the whole picture of how you provide fire protection,” said Richard Boyes, president of consultant Emergency Services Strategy and Solutions Inc. “It really is more than just the big red trucks.”
Some of the recommendations in the master plan include:
- transitioning from a volunteer deputy chief to a full-time fire chief or considering a shared management agreement with another municipality
- Installation of a radio communications antenna on the Drayton water tower to improve paging reception township wide
- Fire chief to prepare a report identifying additional public education programs that could be run
- Review current volunteer compensation program and revise it as necessary
- Perform an in-depth study on the impacts and disadvantages of operating from a single fire station
Interim fire chief Brad Bigrigg clarified this master plan doesn’t authorize any expenditure but would endorse the chief to work with township staff on an implementation plan.
Boyes also noted it “isn’t against the rules” to change the plans, to only implement some recommendations, or to take many years to go put them all in place.
“It’s a road map going forward … it helps you see where you are today but also where are you going in the future,” Boyes said. “This is a document that can not go on the shelf, it will be up to the fire chief to review it annually.”
Council unanimously endorsed the report with Mayor Gregg Davidson adding council needed to be prepared to put more money towards the department in the future.
“It’s going to add to the budget line and we have to be ready for it when it does,” Davidson said.
