New $5.6 million Dorchester fire hall nearing completion
The Town of Tantramar is seeking proposals from outside consultants for a comprehensive review of its fire service, which operates three fire halls in Dorchester, Sackville and Pointe de Bute.
The review will include the development of a 10-year plan identifying the level of fire service residents can expect, with recommendations based on community risks and National Fire Protection Association standards.
“Tantramar’s project budget for the entire project is $50,000 + H.S.T.,” says the municipality’s 21-page Request for Proposals (RFP), issued last Wednesday.
The RFP says the three fire stations have a current roster of 54 volunteer firefighters, compared with a potential complement of up to 80. It requires consultants to evaluate options for composite staffing—a combination of full-time career firefighters and volunteers.
As Warktimes reported in August, several other New Brunswick municipalities, including St. Stephen, Woodstock and Oromocto, have already adopted composite staffing, with varying ratios of career firefighters to volunteers.
Role of full-time fire chief
Tantramar is currently hiring a full-time chief for Sackville Fire and Rescue, with an annual salary ranging from $73,860 to $98,480. The job posting closed on August 28.
The RFP asks consultants to recommend an organizational structure for Tantramar Fire Service, including the place of the full-time chief within it, and the number of firefighters needed to provide safe and sustainable service.
The review will also examine whether Tantramar has the right fire stations, vehicles and equipment in the right places; the costs of individual services; mutual aid arrangements with neighbouring departments; and the department’s role in providing medical first response services.
It will include a one-year plan for beginning to implement the recommendations.
Consultants are also being asked to examine firefighter training, workload and morale, as well as recruitment, retention and the risk of burnout.
The RFP says the successful consultant should, ideally, interview the fire service’s members and officers.
The RFP closes on September 28th.
For earlier coverage, click here.
$50k. That’s a nice money maker for some consultant, to do the jobs we already pay the Director of Protective Services and the “Manager of People & Culture” to do.
My first thought on reading this is that they’ve already made a decision to close one (probably Point de Bute) and, knowing it will be unpopular, need a consultant to say to do that. So then they can say that it is the consultants recommendation that the outlying areas get less service in exchange for greatly increased property taxes. That may be a cynical interpretation. But that does tend to be why governments use consultants. Otherwise why not just ask the firefighters and save $50,000?
Surely, due to the ongoing “wildfire” season threats all across our country it must be time now to build an expensive new big fire hall out in Pointe de Bute right? Look how large Tantramar is and how much it is growing ….. we MUST need another government-funded building… right? Let’s hire some consultants to suggest that would be our next step to being sustainable here. Something about public/private partnerships and re-inventing government according to the people who know best? Joan Veon explains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h62lSGK4Y8 .. found her research helpful in understanding what the heck is going on with our society… may she rest in eternal peace 1949-2010.