City of WL/Cariboo RD reach 5 yr contract for Fire Protection

Joint Release of the City of WL/Cariboo RD:

Editor's Note - as the Alternate Director for Area 'D' of the Cariboo RD, I'm pleased to see this agreement reached.  Now we can focus on the joint relationship at the Central Cariboo Joint Committee table and making a decision on the future of the Sam Ketchum Pool

The Cariboo Regional District (CRD) and the City of Williams Lake have reached an agreement for Williams Lake fringe fire protection which will commence January 1st, 2014.

The new agreement is based on a flat fee of $534,494.06 for a five-year term with an annual two percent non-cumulative increase beginning in 2015 and will encompass the existing service boundaries. This agreement is well within the parameters of the November 2012 Referendum.

Based on the agreement, the CRD’s annual contributions to the City of Williams Lake would be as follows:

Year	2% non-cumulative increase	Total contribution
2014		$534,494.06
2015	$10,689.88	$545,183.94
2016	$10,689.88	$555,873.82
2017	$10,689.88	$566,563.70
2018	$10,689.88	$577,253.58

“We are very happy to have reached this agreement with the City of Williams Lake,” stated CRD Central Cariboo Rural Caucus Chair, Joan Sorley. “Thank you to our Williams Lake fringe area residents for the tremendous input they provided to us throughout this process. We can now focus on our collaborative efforts with the City of Williams Lake Council, to continue to provide the best possible services for all central Cariboo residents.”

“This is great news for our community,” says Williams Lake Mayor Kerry Cook. “This agreement creates certainty for both rural fringe and City residents that will provide important financial stability for the City over the next five years. I would like to thank Council for their commitment to seeing the negotiations through to the end and reaching a successful agreement. We look forward to working with the Regional District to continue serving our residents together.”

Fire protection for 2013 will continue under the one-year agreement which was established on March 8, 2013 and was based on a flat fee of $579,221 covering the period of Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2013. 

Williams Lake fringe area residents are reminded of the next and final fire protection meeting taking place on Thursday, April 25 at 5:30 p.m. in the Gibraltar Room.