At its regular meeting March 11, M.D. of Smoky River council had a request to add a part-time or full-time firefighter position to its emergency services crew.
The request came from the fire chief, Marcel Maure, to strengthen overall emergency response capacity, improve the reliability of weekday daytime responses, reduce operational workload pressures, support a healthier work-life balance for the fire chief and other factors.
“Due to time constraints during our regular meeting, we tabled all remaining items to the April meeting,” says Reeve Paula Guindon.
“Council is committed to providing equal consideration to all agenda items, necessitating the scheduling of an additional meeting.”
Proposed financials include either a part-time firefighter of 21 hours weekly from $30,800 to $53,900 or a full-time firefighter who would earn $50,960 to $89,180.
The proposal also included advantages and disadvantages of hiring an additional firefighter and other considerations.
Guindon says council will discuss the issue further at its next meeting on April 8.
“Prior to making this decision, council will consider all provided information, including but not limited to community need, public benefit, departmental structure impacts and thorough financial implications,” she explains.
Emily Plihal
Local Journalism
Initiative Reporter