MINUTES - General Committee - 20010205
TOWN OF AURORA
SPECIAL GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING
REPORT
NO. 03-01
Council Chambers
Aurora Town Hall
Monday, February 5, 2001
ATTENDANCE
COMMITTEE MEMBERS Mayor Jones in the Chair; Councillors Griffith, Kean,
MacEachern, Pedersen, Timpson, Vrancic, Wallace
and West.
OTHER ATTENDEES Chief Administrative Officer, Director of Corporate
Services/Town Clerk, Director of Public Works, Acting
Fire Chief, Council/Committee Secretary, C. Kearns -
Randolf Group; J. Jones - Program Specialist Office
of the Fire Marshall; J. Molyneaux - Newmarket Fire
Chief; B. Kennedy - Richmond Hill Fire Chief; R.
Beckett - President Newmarket Firefighters
Association (NPFFA); M. Petrova - Member of the
Aurora Professional Firefighters Association (APFFA
Local 2870); J. Adema - Vice Chair and P. Cooke -
Secretary (APFFA Lcal 2870).
The Chair called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
I DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
There were no declarations of interest under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
II APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Moved by Councillor Griffith Seconded by Councillor West
THAT the content of the Agenda as circulated by the Corporate Services
Department be approved as presented.
CARRIED
III DELEGATIONS
Mr. Paul Cooke, fire fighter and Secretary for the Aurora Professional Fire Fighters
Association Local 2870, indicated that, in principle, the Association is not in opposition
of a potential merger between Newmarket's and Aurora's Fire Services. However he
indicated that several concerns needed to be addressed. Mr. Cooke suggested that the
issue of enhancing the current level of service and staffing within the Aurora Fire
Department must be addressed prior to consideration of amalgamating with Newmarket.
Special General Committee Meeting Report No. 03-01 Page 2
Monday, February 5, 2001
Mr. Cooke stressed that any merger should in no way jeopardize public safety and
expressed the opinion that in it's current form, the plan presented in Report CS00-005
could effect the service level provided within Aurora in a negative way possibly resulting
higher risk to residents of the Town.
Mr. Cooke suggested a meeting between staff, Council and the Association should be
held to discuss and resolve these issues before a merger is finalized.
IV CONSIDERATION OF REPORT CS01-005 - FIRE AND EMERGENCY
SERVICES OPERATION REVIEW
1. CS01-005 - Fire and Emergency Services Operation Review
Prior to consideration of the report, the Committee discussed the following:
Details regarding the report and current service levels of the Aurora Fire Department
were questioned and clarified. It was suggested that amalgamation of fire services
might cost the Town of Aurora more money than it would to improve local services,
increase staffing and remain autonomous. The possibility of unforeseen costs and
potential for inequity of service distribution was questioned.
It was suggested that the amalgamation of the two fire departments would result in a
larger more efficient department and strengthen the overall delivery of services
throughout the two municipalities, without having the unnecessary duplication of costly
equipment and upper management salaries.
It was explained that the approval of the report would only begin the process of
negotiating a merger of fire protection services between Newmarket and Aurora,
indicating that there will be many more opportunities to explore the potential benefits
and ramifications of this merger, resolving issues as they arise.
Moved by Councillor West Seconded by Councillor Timpson
THAT the Town of Aurora pursue a merger of the Fire & Emergency
Services with the Town of Newmarket with the objective of creating a
consolidated service by the 2nd of April 2001;
THAT the Council of the Town of Newmarket be requested to endorse this
proposal;
That the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office be requested to endorse and
actively participate in the integration of the Fire & Emergency Services of
the two municipalities;
That an Integration Committee be formed comprised of management,
human resources officials and union representatives from both
municipalities to explore in detail the resulting labour relations issues;
That staff continue to explore future merger opportunities with the Town of
Richmond Hill or other interested municipalities as part of a multi-
municipal partnership; and
That staff report back on the implementation processes to fulfil this
mandate including the necessary by-laws and agreements as soon as
possible.
CARRIED
Special General Committee Meeting Report No. 03-01 Page 3
Monday, February 5, 2001
V ADJOURNMENT
Moved by Councillor West
THAT the meeting be adjourned at 8:05 p.m.
CARRIED
(THE REPORT OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING NO. 03-01 WAS
CONSIDERED AND ADOPTED BY COUNCIL AT ITS MEETING HELD ON
FEBRUARY 13, 2001, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN
REPORT CS01-005 - FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES OPERATION REVIEW,
WHICH WERE DISCUSSED AND AMENDED)
______________________ _________________________________
T. JONES, MAYOR B. PANIZZA, TOWN CLERK