WL Council perpetually debates Rural Fire Protection

In the latest round of "he said, she said" over Rural Fire Protection - WL City Councillor Ivan Bonnell continued his push to have the Cariboo RD pay for WL Fire Department service to CRD Rural Fringe residents' at a cost of $174 per $100,000 of property assessment while WL Mayor Cook said that it was impossible to do so now, given the Cariboo Regional District was submitting a question on the same topic which, if passed, would see those same residents' pay $129 per $100,000 to a maximum of $140 per $100,000 of property assessment

As an observer - neither side made itself look good and it looked like, at one point, Mayor Cook and Councillors Bourdon/Bonnell were fighting each other like a brother/sister fight.  The tape of this meeting will be on Shaw Cable 10 later today at 8pm

Mayor Cook, prior to the discussion, did ask the public to leave the room to go In-Camera (without a motion duly passed) and she should know that this act is clearly illegal under the Community Charter which states at Section 92:

Before holding a meeting or part of a meeting that is to be closed to the public, a council must state, by resolution passed in a public meeting,

(a) the fact that the meeting or part is to be closed, and
(b) the basis under the applicable subsection of section 90 on which the meeting or part is to be closed.

In fact, the 57 minute discussion on this file, given the City can do nothing until the Nov 24th CRD referendum vote is completed and the results known - this was a completely ineffective use of Council's time and Council would have been better off to have this discussion in a Committee of the Whole setting

The 5 part resolution that Council passed by a 4-3 vote Tuesday night may do the City of Williams Lake more harm than good in that negotiating in public and through the media, in times past, has shown not to be in a City's best interests but rather to leave negotating behind closed doors