Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: February 18, 2010 6:00 PM
Vernon believes neighbouring jurisdictions should trust its ability to provide fire dispatch. The City of Vernon will not submit a bid through the North Okanagan Regional District’s request for proposals on operating fire dispatch. And Coun. Jack Gilroy insists other local jurisdictions should simply join the city’s new function under contract. “Everyone knows the costs and the information has been given to them,” he said. “We’re going to run dispatch whether they come or not.” The city is seeking permission from NORD to withdraw from the regional function because it claims technological standards for large communities aren’t being met. However, the regional district has decided to pursue tenders to determine the best route to go. “We will do a proposal call and see what the options are. The city could provide the service,” said Greg Betts, administrator. Some officials are not happy with the city not participating in the process. “If Vernon is not going to submit a proposal, how do we compare what to what?” said Doug Dirk, Coldstream director.That is also the view from Spallumcheen director Will Hansma. “I want to compare apples to apples,” said Hansma, adding, though, that he sees benefits to contracting out to Vernon. “There is value in having a local component to this. There is an at-home component (local dispatch knowledge) when we’re making the call to them.” The city is currently the contractor under the NORD function, and Gilroy says that should be reason enough for the other communities to back Vernon’s plans. “We’ve run dispatch from day one,” he said.
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