Municipalities agree to extend existing Flagstaff Fire Agreement to 2019

As municipalities in Flagstaff County continue to work on developing a regional fire service plan, all nine have agreed to extend the existing fire agreement, scheduled originally to expire Dec. 31, 2017, and then extended to the end of this year, for another year as they continue to work towards the development of a regional plan that works for all.

The Emergency Services Committee has an elected representative from every Flagstaff Community, and has been meeting for over a year to discuss the future of fire services in the Flagstaff region.

Last September, a smaller, working sub-committee was formed, including Mayor Debra Smith of Lougheed, Killam CAO Kimberly Borgel, Sedgewick Assistant Fire Chief Joe Hebert, Flagstaff County Regional Emergency Services Coordinator Kim Cannady, and Don Rosland, Field Officers from the Alberta Fire Commissioner’s Office.

The sub-committee was tasked with coming up with a more concrete proposal for a regional fire services society, and actually presented a possible business plan to the rest of the committee this February.

Because the Emergency Services Committee has no governing powers, the plan was taken back to each individual Council for review.

Borgel says that one of the things that the sub-committee suggested is that any objections to the proposal come with alternate solutions, “We’re asking them not just to bring their objections.”