There is no sign yet that the Regional District of Central Kootenay and the Town of Creston are close to agreeing about how to deliver a single Creston Valley-wide fire protection service to local residents.
“But we have agreed to keep on talking, and that’s a positive,” said RDCK board chair and Area B director John Kettle on Monday.
“A lot of the groundwork has been laid after many, many meetings involving Creston Fire and Rescue and the other volunteer fire departments that serve the Creston Valley,” said Mayor Ron Toyota. “I think we will continue to move forward in our discussions, searching for a model that we can all agree on.”
Discussions looked like they were about to come to an end last month when RDCK fire chief Terry Swan told town council that the regional district would have to create a sub-regional service that would include all Creston Valley fire departments, including the one that the Town of Creston has operated for more than 100 years.
In his report, Swann indicated that his poll of fire services across the province had convinced the RDCK that it would have to manage all Creston Valley fire protection services and that contracting them to the Town of Creston wouldn’t work. Such an amalgamation would mean a property tax increase for Town of Creston property owners, with no corresponding increase in the level of services.
West Creston, for instance, has no formal fire department and residents don’t pay for fire protection in their taxes.
A report presented at a special town council meeting on Aug. 23 indicates that there are regions in the province that are successfully using a model preferred by the Town of Creston, which would see the town provide fire protection to the entire Creston Valley on a contract with the RDCK.
In the report submitted by Creston Fire and Rescue chief Bruce Mabin, models being used in Terrace and Grand Forks are cited as working well and as potential structures for a local service. The report says, “Based on the responses, provided above, from the local governments and the Town of Creston’s experience with contractual agreements, a contractual model would serve to:
“•Provide cost certainty for both the town and RDCK;
“•Standardize service for the valley as a whole;
“•Focus management of the service for the Creston Valley within the Creston Valley; and,
“•Provide mutual benefit and fair governance for each of the participating areas and the Town of Creston through careful detailing of contract structure.”
“We need to continue to look for the best option for the Creston Valley,” Kettle said. “It makes sense to have one service. Our fire departments are running out of volunteers — that’s what started this discussion in the first place and that hasn’t changed.”
In the interim, Kettle said, regional directors will work toward creating fire protection services for residents that currently have no protection.