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Hot words over fire dispatch issue
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
year, the townships of Champlain, Russell, Alfred-Plantagenet and East Hawkesbury, the Village of Casselman, and The Nation Municipality have been assessing the cost of keeping to their agreements withHawkes- bury or switching to contracts with Ottawa also, or pursuing another route. This all resulted from a consultant’s re- port presented last year to the UCPR on fire dispatch. Mayor Barton said that he is not suggesting theUCPR take over fire dispatch. All Barton wants is for director Chrétien to help with coordinating the “political side” of the discussions between the six mayors and their fire station chiefs because hewould have more experience and expertise about dispatch needs within the region. UCPR chief administrator Stéphane Pari- sien expressed concern about one of his staff becoming involved in the debate now between the mayors over fire dispatch ser- vice and risk becoming a target for blame if any of the mayors are upset at the final results. “It’s a very political dossier,” Parisien told the council, adding that he will sup- port Chrétien on any recommendations or suggestions he is forced to make. “The one thing I don’t want is for M. Chrétien to be the fall guy…or get pinned to the wall.” Hawkesburymayor Jeanne Charlebois ex- pressed agreement withDesjardins, adding that both Clarence-Rockland and Hawkes- bury are dealing with their own fire dispatch needs and that the other six municipalities
The tone got a bit heated last Wednesday morning at the counties council session when the topic of fire dispatch service came up. The six municipalities in the United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR) that contract with the Town of Hawkesbury for fire call dispatch have decided to seek an alternate and cheaper service provider.The temperature in the room during the June 9 committee of the whole council session started to rise a little bit when Champlain Townshipmayor Gary Barton asked if Michel Chrétien, the UCPR’s emergency service director, could assist with coordinating a discussion session between the mayors of the six municipalities and the chiefs of the local fire departments on the needs and options for their fire dispatch set-up. «I just seemore involvement for the coun- ties,» said Warden Guy Desjardins, who is mayor for the City of Clarence-Rockland. “If the counties takes this over, then a quarter of that (cost) would be paid by Clarence- Rockland, and I’m not in favour of that. If it were a minute amount of money, I have no problem with that.” The City of Clarence-Rockland contracts with the City of Ottawa for its fire dispatch service while the Town of Hawkesbury pro- vided the service for itself and the other six UCPRmember municipalities. For the past
should do likewise. She later added that Hawkesbury will send out official letters to the six municipalities confirming that the fire dispatch contract between them and Hawkesbury will end in 2017. During a later interview, mayor Barton said that the six municipalities are looking at a possible service agreement with Ottawa
but right now they are trying to figure out the potential costs and benefits , both in terms of actual service rates, equipment upgrades, and such. “We’re in the process of sending out an RFP (request for proposals),” Barton said, “for what we need to do and what it would cost to go to Ottawa.”
Plus de 500 000 $ en ristournes pour Desjardins
Au terme de l’exercice financier de 2015, la Caisse Desjardins d’Argenteuil a redis- tribué plus de 533 000 $ à ses membres et à la collectivité, que ce soit sous forme de commandites et dons, par le biais du fonds d’aide au développement dumilieu ou par le versement de ristournes et d’avantages membres Desjardins. En effet, l’actif de la coopérative financière s’établit à 335 478 000 $, une hausse de 1,9 % par rapport à 2014. Le passif de la caisse est de 297 292 000 $, affichant une croissance de 1,5 %. Au 31 décembre 2015, l’avoir de la coopé- rative a connu une bonne hausse, passant à 38 186 000 $, soit une croissance de 4,3 %. Les fonds de la réserve de stabilisation sont de l’ordre de 1 273 000 $ et le montant de la réserve pour ristournes éventuelles représente 1 882 000 $. La caisse a également accumulé 82 000 $ dans le Fonds d’aide au développement du milieu. Au cours du dernier exercice, la Caisse
Desjardins d’Argenteuil a réalisé des excé- dents d’exploitation de 2 285 000 $, en hausse de 7,8 % par rapport à l’année précédente. Les revenus d’intérêts totalisent 10 161 000 $, une diminution de 1,5 % par rapport à l’an passé. Les frais d’intérêts ont quant à eux di- minué de 6,6 %, pour se situer à 3 258 000 $. Quant aux autres revenus, ils totalisent 3 139 000 $, en hausse de 3,9 %par rapport à l’année dernière. Les autres frais ont connu une faible baisse dans l’ensemble, soit une variation de 0,6 %pour atteindre 7 567 000 $. Au terme de l’année 2015, la Caisse a généré des excédents avant ristournes de 4 247 000 $, une hausse de 10,9 %par rapport à l’année précédente. « Si notre caisse présente aujourd’hui un bilan enviable à bien des égards, et que nos résultats démontrent la pertinence de notre offre de service, c’est parce que nous misons sur des produits novateurs et sur la qualité de la prestation de service », a affirmé le président du conseil, Guy Griffiths.
Low water condition While recent rainfalls may have helped the situation a bit, the South Nation Conservation Authority (SNC) has declared a Level One Low Water Condition for the South Nation River watershed region. There is no need for concern at present. A Level One situation means that the amount of rain which has fallen over the area during the past three months is 20 to 30 per cent less than normal. Residents are asked to try to reduce the amount of water they use for day-to-day activities by at least 10 per cent to help ease the impact on local water sources. Avoid lawn watering during the day or washing the car are examples of water conservation methods.The SNC continues to monitor stream conditions and will post updates at its website at www.nation.ca. – Gregg Chamberlain
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