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Fire Chief tells the SLRD they’ve got it wrong

Black Tusk, Pinecrest taxpayers may pay more than they need to
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Garibaldi Fire Chief Nelson Bastien

There is a war of words brewing between the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and the members of the Garibaldi Fire Department and according to the fire chief, the taxpayers will be the ones who pay if the situation is not resolved.

Garibaldi Fire Chief Nelson Bastien said the taxpayers based in and around Black Tusk and Pinecrest Village might be forced to pay $90,000 more than is necessary for a new fire truck if the SLRD does not review bylaw No. 914.

But Bastien said if the taxpayers refuse to pay some money then they might be hit with an increase in insurance premiums because a suitable fire truck will not be protecting their homes.

This situation unravelled earlier this month when the SLRD announced its intentions for the "Garibaldi Fire Protection Specified Area" in an advertisement.

The advertisement said the SLRD wanted to raise $160,000 for a new fire truck.

But the SLRD also indicated that to borrow $160,000 the "average taxpayer’s annual charges (in Garibaldi fire protection area) will be increased by approximately $85 per year for 15 years."

The advertisement also states that if 10 per cent of the electors in the area vote against the motion, by signing an elector response form, then the bylaw would not proceed.

And this is what Chief Bastien is worried about because he believes $85 for 15 years is too much for the community to pay, but the area still needs a new fire truck and that won’t happen, in the short term, if the taxpayers vote against it.

The answer, according to Bastien, who has been a volunteer with the department since 1977, is for the SLRD to "listen" because he has already found a new fire truck, at a price of $70,000.

If the SLRD does edit bylaw No. 914 so the community only has to pay $70,000 in total for a new fire truck then, according to Bastien, the situation could be easily resolved.

"When a fire truck is 25 years old and they're the first truck to respond to a fire, the (insurance) underwriters don't recognize those trucks," said Bastien.

"They want trucks 25 years or less in age so there's some reliability to them.

"So when a truck rolls up to that age you start budgeting ahead of time to replace it.

"I did that budget process (in 2003) and it looked like the best I could do for 2004 was $160,000 for a new truck.

"Because to buy a fire truck of much substance for around $150,000 is a real stretch.

"I talked to all the suppliers and I went to a conference in Vernon and $150,000 gets you the absolute bare bones.

"Meantime, while we're chasing these prices a truck comes up over on the Island in an area where they're changing their fire fighting strategies, and that puts a 10-year-old truck on the market – which is absolutely what we need – for a price of $70,000.

"The SLRD was made aware of this, that we didn't need the $160,000, we could settle for $70,000, but they wouldn't listen to me and they went ahead with the ad that you read.

"And that worries me, because $85 for 15 years; that’s a lot of money.

"And I'm concerned because if we have 30 people write into protest it (and the bylaw dies), that could mean the village underwriters will slap us all with new insurance premiums amounting from anywhere between $200-600 for each homeowner, because we will no longer meet the underwriter's requirements."

Bastien said he had explained the situation to the SLRD but they "made it sound like it was too hard to change."

Some of the SLRD's top administrators are away at the Union of B.C. Municipalities annual meeting but Allison Macdonald, assistant administrator at the regional district, said the SLRD had decided to ask the community for $160,000 just in case the fire department couldn’t secure a cheaper option.

"They need a new truck, their fire chief has identified that and they've actually looked at a truck that's going to cost them about half what we're asking for," said Macdonald.

"But just in case they can't get that truck, we asked for the $160,000."

Bastien said there’s no doubt they need a new truck.

"Just to give you an idea, we had fire practice last night and our 25-year-old truck that we know we have electrical problems with, we roll it out the door and it blew up one of the god damn batteries and there was sulfuric acid.

"So when they get to be that old they become a problem because they've done some work and they're no longer reliable."

Macdonald confirmed that the bylaw would be quashed if 10 per cent of the people in the effected area "counter-petitioned" it.

"Whenever we get a request from a service area to do some borrowing this is the way we do it.

"And if we get 10 per cent of the electorate against it then the bylaw doesn't go through and we look at other options.

"If it's less than 10 per cent then we go ahead with the bylaw and borrow the money."