Sudbury to hire more full-time firefighters for Val Therese station

The City of Greater Sudbury will be hiring more firefighters to fill positions at the Val Therese fire station. That decision was made by city councillors following a nearly three hour discussion Tuesday evening a continuation of a discussion that began at the previous council meeting two weeks ago.

The decision means the city will be spending an extra $1,074,000 on fire services.

The city will be hiring eight more firefighters, to fill two positions at the Val Therese fire station. Last year, an arbitratorruled that the complement at that station should be four career firefighters, rather than two. The fire hallis the only one in the city that is a composite station, meaning it includes both full-time and volunteer firefighters.

Since the arbitration, the city has been meeting the staffing need through overtime hours with existing staff. Fire chief Joseph Nicholls told council that to continue to do so would be costly and unsustainable.

Staff presented council with several options for how to proceed, which included converting the Val Therese fire hall into a volunteer only station, or reassigning positions from other stations, to save costs. But in the end, council voted to keep staffing consistent at the other stationsand to hire the firefighters needed for Val Therese.

"I'm like anybody else,I would like to avoidtax increases. But not at the risk of safety," said Coun. Robert Kirwan, who acknowledged the decision would be contentious.

Concerns over cost

While the motion passed, it was not without opposition from some city councillors. Coun. Gerry Montpellier, the most vocal opponent, gave a 23-minute speech during which he outlined his concernsand made the point that it is up to council to set service levels.

Following the vote, Montpellier announced he is resigning as chair of the emergency services committee.

Coun. Mark Signoretti also shared concerns, and said he has heard from a number of constituents who want to see the Val Therese station staffed onlyby volunteer firefighters.

"A grandmother or a senior, they're trying to just make ends meet in this climate that we're in. So for me it's about, I'm not, I'm supportive of all firefighters, whether volunteer or career. Me, what it comes down to me is the cost," Signoretti said.

The city will save some money, by hiring eight firefighters, rather than the 10 initially proposed. The two additional people would have been to fill in gaps from vacation and illness. Instead, the city will meet those needs through overtime, saving the city about $400,000, according to staff. That amendment was proposed by Mayor Brian Bigger.

At a meeting next month, council will discuss area rating, which sees the outlying areas served by volunteer fire brigades pay less taxes than Sudbury proper.

Councillorswill determine if the extra costs from the additional firefighters will be incurred by residents of Valley East, or by the city as a whole.

'Modernizing' volunteer fire service

One of the key challenges for the city's fire departmentis the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters. Currently, there are just 32 in Valley East.

Later in the meeting, councillorsGeoff McCausland and Deb McIntoshput forward a motion, asking for a report to be brought to council, looking at ways of "modernizing" the city's volunteer fire service, and estimated costs to do so.

"Our volunteer firefighters are still carryingpagers," McIntosh said. "Anapp that can be loaded onto a cell phone and enable volunteer firefighters to respond in real time as to whether or not they can respond to a call would make our volunteer response much more effective."

The motion was carried, with a report expected by the end of May.