The mayor of Lambton Shores is apologizing and wants to alleviate concerns expressed by residents this week, worried about fire hall closures.
A Fire Response Apparatus Review, included in the July 29 committee agenda, mentioned repurposing the Northville Fire Station into a training / decontamination centre.
The suggestion caught community members off guard and concerns were quickly raised about the station closing, as well as the Arkona Fire Station.
In an interview with Sarnia News Today, Doug Cook confirmed there are no immediate plans to close either firehall.
"My apologies to the residents of Lambton Shores for the confusion -- I guess is the best way to describe it -- around this report," Cook said. "There will be a follow up report discussed at a September 9 council meeting, to discuss the purchase of one new truck. That's basically all that's going to happen from the report at this point."
He said during the last budget session, staff were asked to consider options moving forward to find effective efficiencies in the fire operations, particularly around equipment purchases and vehicles.
"Specifically the report dealt more with Northville [Fire Station]. We were looking at trying to repurpose that potentially down the road. But, at this point, there's been no decision -- or even discussion -- amongst council regarding closing any halls," Cook said.
While closing the Arkona Fire Station wasn't even specified in the report, Cook predicts concerns were raised due to its age.
"It's one of the oldest stations that we have in our area and it does need a lot of retrofitting to upgrade to new NFPA (National Fire Code of Canada) standards. But, all of that work is in process right now," Cook said.
He reiterated no closures are being discussed at this time.
"I'm just sorry if there was confusion and that's the challenge. At some of these committee meetings we don't make decisions, and this one was the same thing. We didn't make any decisions at it. We just received [and filed] the report," Cook said.
He said the purchase of a new fire pumper for the Forest Fire Station will be discussed at the September 9 council meeting.
Cook said firefighters in his municipality "deserve the best equipment" and that is all this report will be addressing.