Lloydminster council has passed an update to their fire services bylaw.
The bylaw provides guidance and direction for fire protection in the City of Lloydminster. With its aim to reduce community risk, enhance fire and life safety initiatives and assist in the enforcement of non-compliance to fire code issues.
Lloydminster Fire Chief Aaron Buckingham, the presenter of the bylaw, says education continues to be a key focus of the fire services team. When someone is found in contradiction of the bylaw, in most instances a warning is issued before assessing a penalty.
At the Aug. 12 Governance and Priorities Committee meeting council heard a presentation on a proposed cost saving strategy for the fire service called Fire Marque. At the time the item was accepted as information to be brought forward to a future council meeting. Mayor Gerald Aalbers during the question-and-answer period asked if there were any updates regarding Fire Marque.
“We didn’t make the adjustment to the Fire Marque, that’s something we’re going to work through our fire master plan update and some of the things we’re working on internally and then look at Fire Marque or another software package that might be able to support that in the future,” responded Don Stang, executive manager, operations & community development services.
Following the council meeting, Aalbers spoke further on the need for alternate sources of revenue for the city in relation to the services offered.
“As we wrestle in this council and the next council will finalize a budget, how do we find cost savings or alternate sources of revenue,” he said. “If we could find a third methodology of finding a revenue source that we haven’t tapped without directly impacting the taxpayers.”
Following first reading at the June 24 council meeting a change was made to the bylaw. The change addresses how the city collects the fire surcharge for developments as it is collected based on 10 per cent of the building permit fee not 10 per cent of the building permit value.
Read more: Lloydminster considers cost recovery for fire department
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