WL Rural Fringe Fire Protection Survey results reviewed

Courtesy of the Cariboo Regional District:

Editor's Note -- Williams Lake Tribune reports that Mayor Cook, as CRD Director for Williams Lake, voted against the CRD Board delegating authority to the WL Rural Fringe Fire Protection Standing Committee which that Committee would be comprised of all CRD Directors except Director Cook because of the legal action involved between the Cariboo RD and Williams Lake regarding this issue

During a Special Board meeting yesterday, the Cariboo Regional District (CRD) delegated authority to deal with the ongoing litigation with the City of Williams Lake to a Williams Lake Fringe Area Fire Protection Standing Committee consisting of all directors except the representative from Williams Lake. The Committee then convened to review the results of the recent public survey regarding preferred options for proceeding.

Over 60 percent of survey respondents indicated that they wanted the CRD to continue with legal action to ensure the original agreement would be enforced for the five-year renewable term as originally presented in the recent referendum, while 25 percent voted to start a separate CRD run fire department. Only 15 percent of respondents indicated an interest in negotiating another agreement to replace the one the City is refusing to honour. Based on these survey results, the CRD now has a clear mandate, and intends to proceed with legal action against the City of Williams Lake.

The City has requested that the CRD agree to attend a mediation session in an effort to resolve this matter. Mediation is simply the first step in the legal process aimed at resolving the situation and if the CRD refuses this request, the City has the ability to take steps to force mediation. The tax-payers were already put to significant unnecessary expense when the City forced the CRD to bring on an emergency injunction application last year to ensure that fire protection services were continued while this dispute was ongoing, rather than simply agreeing to continue the services in the interim. The CRD does not condone this sort of approach and will not waste tax-payer’s money by forcing the City to take unnecessary steps to compel mediation. Rather, the CRD has agreed to attend the mediation and will focus its efforts, and the tax-payer’s money, on the primary issue of resolving this dispute.

If a solution is attainable under mediation, all tax-payers will benefit from avoiding the costs associated with bringing the matter forward to trial. If the mediation process does not produce an acceptable resolution, the legal action will continue and the case will proceed towards a trial.

Residents are reminded a public meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 5:30 p.m. in the Gibraltar Room of the Cariboo Memorial Complex to present and discuss the results of the Jan. 17 survey. During this meeting, CRD elected officials and staff will also advise the public of the proposed next steps based on today’s meeting.

Current information about the Williams Lake fringe fire protection service is available online at cariboord.bc.ca or by calling the CRD at 250-392-3351 or toll free at 1-800-665-1636.