If you live on the outskirts of Vernon, you may soon be calling the Fraser Valley to report a fire. The North Okanagan Regional District board has voted to negotiate a deal with that dispatch centre, says board chairman Herman Halvorson, who says the City of Vernon did not bid on the contract. But Mayor Wayne Lippert has a different story. He says the City was led to believe the District had called for bids to ``compare'' Vernon with NORD's requisition. According to board chairman Herman Halvorson, it will save NORD about 46-thousand dollars a year. But Mayor Wayne Lippert says the district also faces the 100-thousand dollar cost of putting in a new hub. A report suggests by going elsewhere, they will save enough to pay for the capital costs of the upgrades needed over the next 5 years. Lippert thinks Vernon has been left in the lurch and he blames regional district staff.
Vernon councillor and former firefighter Jack Gilroy doesn't think the district will be getting such a good deal. Gilroy suggests there is a deep-rooted problem between the city and the district. Lippert insists the change will not mean higher taxes in Vernon, that the City can operate a better fire dispatch service on the same budget. Public safety will still come first, says Vernon deputy fire chief Lawrie Skolrood. However Skolrood believes that using another dispatch centre may ``present some challenges" having two dispatches in one region.
No comments:
Post a Comment