A Gananoque resident and well known career firefighter is speaking out about the town council’s decision to eliminate overnight firefighter staffing.
Harold Tulk has served as fire chief in both Brockville and Kingston. He questions the outgoing council decision that was made in the dying days of the term.
Tulk ran unsuccessfully for council in the last municipal election, an election that finished with a complete turnover of councillors and the mayor.
Tulk says seven new councillors and a new mayor should be an obvious indicator to the lame duck council.
“This community objected to the way they were behaving because they obviously moved everybody right out.”
Tulk says he’s concerned about the lack of consultation in the decision making process by the departing mayor and council.
“The evaluating agencies like the insurance underwriters, the Ontario Fire Marshals Office, and the Ontario Professional Firefighters ought to be consulted and the public should be consulted.”
The move is expected to save town coffers $140,000, but it’s the new council that will have to deal with the impact of the decision.
WATCH: Gananoque looks to scale back overnight staffing at Fire Hall
Tulk says the decision may constitute a change in the level of service in the community and may impact insurance rates.
“They have an obligation to disclose to the community exactly what’s happening so that householders and businesses and industries can check with their insurers.”
For his part, Tulk says he doesn’t understand the decision or councils desire to rush it through at the end of their term.
“I think that they had a good balanced approach to fire protection. The staff seemed to be quite happy, I think the community was happy with their fire department. Why didn’t they just leave it alone and get on with life?”
These may just be some of the questions council members face when they next meet on Nov. 20.