Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: August 10, 2010 7:00 PM
The City of Vernon is accusing the North Okanagan Regional District of pulling the plug on an emergency service. The city was recently removed from the regional fire dispatch function as it had requested. But by not waiting until Dec. 31 to do so, the city claims NORD has also ended Vernon’s contract to actually operate dispatch. “We will continue to provide the service,” said Mayor Wayne Lippert, adding there are no plans to cease dispatch to other communities at this time. “It’s not fair to the citizens of the North Okanagan not to have dispatch because NORD wasn’t smart enough to look at contract issues.” Lippert says the city will provide dispatch in the interim until NORD has a new service provider in place, but that must be confirmed by the regional district. “They need to tell us how they want us to carry on,” he said. One of the outstanding issues is how much would the city be paid if it does continue to provide fire dispatch in the interim. “We need a firm month-to-month cost so we know what the cost is,” said Leon Gous, chief administrative officer. The city also wants to know when it will be reimbursed for its financial contributions to the service now that it’s not an official participant.
NORD issued a request for proposals for the service after Vernon announced it was leaving the regional function so it could focus on infrastructure enhancements required in its community. Vernon did not submit a formal proposal, but it stated it would provide the service as it currently does under contract for the regional function. NORD, instead, has decided to enter into negotiations with the Fraser Valley Regional District to provide fire dispatch. Regional district officials were reluctant to discuss the city’s accusations. “We are dealing with all of the matters they have raised concerns about,” said Herman Halvorson, chairman.
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