Erin gets a new fire chief

After a lengthy recruitment process, Jim Sawkins has been hired as the new head of Erin Fire and Emergency Services, replacing Dan Callaghan who retired in December.

Town council confirmed the appointment in a closed session on Feb. 20, and Sawkins will start on March 12.

“I am pleased to welcome James to the town to fill this important role,” said Erin Mayor Allan Alls. “He will add value to our efforts to move the community forward and ensure that our Fire & Emergency Services are future ready.”

Erin’s new chief has broad experience, including 20 years as a military firefighter, but has been at the centre of controversy in two communities.

He recently stepped down after serving as Director of Protective Services and Fire Chief since 2011 in the Town of Inuvik in the Northwest Territories. The community of 3,200 is located on the Dempster Highway in the Mackenzie River Delta, close to the Beaufort Sea.

Sawkins was the focus of CBC coverage last fall, with some firefighters in the 40-person department complaining about his leadership. One firefighter resigned after a personal dispute. There were also complaints about firefighters’ requests for additional training being denied.

Another resigned after a house fire in October that was initially extinguished, but reignited a few hours later, destroying the structure. The Northwest Territories Fire Marshall said there wasn’t enough evidence remaining to say why the fire reignited.

Reached by phone in Inuvik, Sawkins said there were “a handful of disgruntled firefighters” who disagreed with some of his management decisions, and that it was a “complex situation”.

“I was brought in to do a job – to build up the fire department,” he said. “I’ve done everything I could do there.”

He said was leaving the town on mutually agreeable terms, and that he was interested in moving back to Ontario to be closer to family members.

Regarding the fire that reignited, he said, “the fire was out when we left”, and that it was not a factor in him leaving the job.

“I’m looking forward to being part of the Erin team and meeting the firefighters,” he said.

Sawkins previously served as fire chief in both the Township of Muskoka Lakes (175 volunteer firefighters), and the Township of Tiny (86 volunteers). He also worked in fire services with the Canadian Forces, as a fire chief and senior instructor.

After almost six years with Muskoka Lakes, he was fired by the township council in 2010, sparking protests and some resignations by volunteer firefighters. They wanted council to reinstate the fire chief and fire the chief administrative officer instead.

Councillors stuck to their original decision, saying it was a routine issue, relating to communication and a new management direction for the department.

The fire chief’s termination came just weeks after more than 20 firefighters staged a protest at the township office in Port Carling. They used municipal fire trucks to block off access to the building. Some complained of budget cuts to the fire department and a lack of respect from council.

In a letter distributed to district fire chiefs and obtained by the Huntsville Forester newspaper, Sawkins asked firefighters not to put the public at risk. He considered running for mayor of Muskoka Lakes, but did not do so.

Sawkins is a Member of the Canadian Association of Fire Chief’s National Advisory Council, Member of the National Fire Protection Association, and past President of the Northwest Territories Fire Chief’s Association.

Erin’s aging water tankers bump fire insurance costs

As published in The Erin Advocate

Shopping for insurance is already an annoying ordeal. Discovering that you have to pay extra because your fire department’s tanker trucks are more than 20 years old makes it very annoying.

It’s a confusing business, since companies may offer highly competitive rates for some types of coverage while charging more for others. So-called “quick” quotes over the phone can turn into hour-long inquisitions about your house and driving habits. I gave up on two quotes from call centres when they wouldn’t call me back later.

My broker (who actually answers the phone) found me a deal with a new company that was going to save me many hundreds of dollars. But when I reviewed the details, it was based on having fire hydrant protection. I told her that I live in a rural area with no hydrants, but that I have the protection of tanker shuttle service.

Firefighters can set up a water reservoir at my house in the event of a fire, with two tanker trucks taking turns filling it up. The insurance industry considers this the equivalent of a hydrant for fighting a fire.

My broker tried to confirm that the Town of Erin provides this service, but found nothing. A phone call to the Town revealed the bad news: last year, Erin lost its Superior Tanker Shuttle Accreditation because two of the trucks are more than 20 years old. The trucks are working fine and providing the protection, but the service no longer qualifies residents for a better insurance rate.

“We are getting calls about this every week,” said Fire Chief Dan Callaghan. “Many residents have a 15% increase.”

This issue does not affect urban residents with hydrants. It applies to rural residents who live less than 8 km from a fire hall, by road. Those further away would not normally qualify for the insurance discount in any case, but check your policy, since company standards vary.

For “superior” accreditation, the one that counts for insurance, Erin Fire must demonstrate to Fire Underwriters Survey that they have the training and two qualified trucks to shuttle water to a test site. They must pump at least 950 litres of water per minute continuously for two hours, filling tankers from hydrants, ponds or the seven underground fire reservoirs in the area.

Erin has three tankers, with model years 1990, 1994 and 2009. In the past there was no fixed cut-off date, but council learned in 2013 that tankers over 20 could no longer be used for the test. In 2014, Erin’s accreditation slipped to “standard” when the second tanker passed the limit. An extension of the cut-off was possible if the Town committed to buying a tanker within an agreed time frame.

A new tanker would cost at least $250,000, but it is only one of the budget priorities that have been delayed. The department is still hoping to replace a 1986 pumper-rescue truck, which would cost twice as much as a tanker.

“Where it is on the list, council will have to decide, but they are determined not to keep passing the buck forward,” said Mayor Al Alls. Each department head has been asked to look at what can be cut in their budget and the current operational review may make additional recommendations about priorities.

Councillor John Brennan said the tanker purchase must be “weighed in conjunction with other pressing needs”. He said accreditation was a factor in 2014 budget discussions.

“Council did not make it such a priority as to be fully addressed in that budget for a variety of reasons and I'm not sure the short time frame of the impending loss of accreditation was fully understood.”

Callaghan fights conflict allegations

As published in The Erin Advocate

Mayor again ruled in violation of Code of Ethics

As published in The Erin Advocate

Erin’s Integrity Commissioner has ruled that Mayor Lou Maieron violated several sections of council’s Code of Ethics, including improper handling of conflicts of interest linked to his lawsuit against the Town and improperly revealing confidential information in support of a court action against Councillor Deb Callaghan.

In a report to Town Council to be discussed Tuesday, Robert Williams upholds seven Code allegations made against the mayor by Councillor Callaghan, and recommends Council impose a one-month suspension of pay. He suggests that Maieron may also have violated both the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act and the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Since he is suing the Town on an issue that involves stormwater issues, Williams said Maieron should not have participated in discussion of the Town’s handling of another stormwater dispute, concerning the pond at Madison Lake subdivision in Ospringe. The commissioner said he “failed to clearly distinguish his personal interests and the public interest.”

After investigating another allegation, Williams said the mayor should not have been involved in the budget discussion of increased legal costs, since it included the Town defending itself against his lawsuit.

The mayor’s disregard for rules about confidential information is “unacceptable”, said Williams, finding him in violation on three related allegations. The full report is available in the first section of the council agenda for July 22, at www.erin.ca.

Council gave the mayor a 30-day pay suspension last December after previous Integrity Commissioner John Craig found him in violation of the Code for his treatment of staff, revealing confidential information and leaving a meeting in progress. Code of Conduct investigations are entirely separate from the court system, with no public proceedings or examination of witnesses.

Councillor Callaghan is currently defending herself in a Conflict of Interest Act court case initiated by Erin resident Mark Adamiak, who alleges she failed to declare a conflict, and improperly voted on staff pay and other issues that affected her husband, the fire chief. That case will be heard in September, with Callaghan saying any errors on her part were inadvertent.

At Adamiak’s request, the mayor filed an affidavit with the court. He referred to a 2013 Code of Conduct complaint against Callaghan that had never been made public. Code complaints remain confidential until they are investigated and council gets a report. That complaint did not proceed, partly because the alleged voting on conflict of interest matters happened before the Code was enacted.

Maieron provided the court with a copy of the complaint letter, written by Pauline Follett to then CAO Frank Miele. His affidavit says the letter “prompted” a closed council meeting – an education session with a lawyer, who he said, “enlightened Councillor Callaghan on the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.”

The specific complaint was not addressed by the lawyer, but it was improper for the mayor to reveal the topic of that closed session and release the letter, said Williams. In his affidavit, Maieron said he believed he was “required by law” to provide the information. He took guidance from the Municipal Act in the interests of “accountability and transparency”, saying the Act made it “incumbent on me to provide the missing facts which would not be in Mr. Adamiak’s knowledge.”

Williams said the Municipal Act “does not give the Head of Council the power to unilaterally override the Town’s procedural by-law or its Code of Ethics.” Even though the letter had been shared with some residents of Erin, Williams believes it is “personal information”, the release of which is prohibited under the Privacy Act.

“The letter is not a public document and should not have been used by Mr. Maieron as if it were,” he said. While admitting it is not his job to address possible violations of provincial law, “the legality of Mr. Maieron’s use of Mrs. Follett’s letter is questionable.”

Williams also noted that responsibility for the process of potentially releasing private information is assigned to Town staff, not elected officials. Therefore, he upheld Callaghan’s allegation that the mayor violated the Code of Ethics by interfering in an area of staff responsibility.

Compared to the allegations related to the mayor’s lawsuit, the ones involving confidential information are “much more serious, since he chose in his sworn affidavit to divulge information about in-camera Council business and to include correspondence with a senior Town official that had never been shared with Council, let alone the public,” said Williams.

The mayor’s suit against the Town seeks $75,000 in damages and repayment of about $39,000 in taxes he paid to avoid a forced sale of a buffer block of property between his fish farm and a subdivision. He seeks full ownership of that land as provided by the Ontario Municipal Board, without the easement reserved by the developer on behalf of the Town to deal with potential subdivision stormwater problems.

Although the mayor has no direct financial interest in the Madison Lake pond dispute, he eventually declared a conflict of interest in May after participating in council discussions of the matter. Williams said it should not have taken him almost three months to identify this potential conflict.

“Because Mr. Maieron’s business is based in part on the role the Town plays in water management systems, he has an ‘interest’ in whatever decision Council might make,” said Williams, ruling there had been a Code violation.

Another allegation says it was not proper for the mayor to request explanations of Town payments to a law firm advising the Town on the Madison Lake issue. He made seven such requests before declaring a conflict of interest on the matter, and three requests after he declared. Williams ruled that another Code violation.

In April this year, a report was coming to council about legal expenses over the last two terms of council. The mayor properly declared a conflict of interest at the start of the meeting. However when it was time to receive the report he remained as presiding officer, which Williams said “is an unambiguous breach of Section 5(1) of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.”

The mayor said any error was due to “inadvertence”, that it was a report for information only with no discussion, and that there was confusion over procedure. He thought he needed to remain at the table to maintain a quorum of three members, while the rules state that two is a quorum when members have to step away due to conflict of interest. Williams rejected his explanations and again found him in violation of the Code.

Ambulance times should be readily available

As published in The Erin Advocate

Erin residents and politicians love to complain about ambulance response times, but the pastime has run into a major snag. It seems no one can find out what the average response time is for the Town of Erin.

Service has probably improved since an ambulance was stationed at the new Hillsburgh fire hall last October, since firefighters are being called out less often to medical emergencies, but people deserve to know the exact quality of the service for which they pay.

The province covers 50% of land ambulance costs. County taxpayers chip in $7.8 million annually (including $1.2 million from Erin), which pays 20% of the costs. The City of Guelph pays 30%, and controls the budget and staffing levels.

The Guelph-based service is responsible for Erin, but the overall system is designed to be “seamless”. Many Erin calls are handled by Acton or Caledon ambulances, depending on how busy each station is and who can get to the scene most quickly. The Hillsburgh ambulance is only on-duty from 11 am to 11 pm.

The Ministry of Health has set a target of 8 minutes for an ambulance to get to a serious emergency. Guelph City Council has approved a 65% compliance rate for this response, averaged for all of Guelph and Wellington.

Overall, the ambulance service exceeds that rate, meeting the standard 67% of the time. In the city, they meet the standard 77% of the time, while in the entire County, the average is only 49%.

No one expects rural service to match urban service, but meeting the provincial standard 49% of the time for serious calls should not be considered acceptable.

Mayor Lou Maieron suspects that Erin’s response times are even worse than the county average, since some other communities have a full-time ambulance, as well as a hospital, where ambulances are often delayed.

I contacted Guelph Fire and Emergency Services Chief Shawn Armstrong in February and March this year looking for Erin statistics for total ambulance calls, the number of Code 4 (serious) calls, and the average times.

I received nothing, the same as Mayor Maieron and County Councillor Ken Chapman, who have been asking for years. I asked Erin Fire Chief Dan Callaghan, but he doesn’t have the information. The full County Council voted in March to request it, but still nothing.

Armstrong is not on staff at Wellington County – he works for the City of Guelph. The City has a new Communication Model, in which the ambulance service is to be “Transparent, Accessible and Accountable”.

As part of that, I heard that Armstrong was coming to make a presentation to Erin Town Council. So I emailed him and asked him to bring along the Erin data. He didn’t answer, and he didn’t bring it.

He did tell councillors that the ambulance staff want to improve service, so that compliance rates will be “tighter” in the County, and that the Tiered Response Agreement which calls out firefighters to some medical emergencies needs to be improved.

He had a nice Powerpoint presentation, with big arrows showing how the County and local Towns have the right to pose questions about service delivery. A right to receive answers was not specifically mentioned.

At the meeting, Councillor John Brennan asked him for the local data. Armstrong did not say that he wasn’t allowed to provide it, that it was too complicated to compile, that we’d have to contact the Ministry of Health or that it was none of our business.

He simply said, “We don’t have that data tonight, but we would certainly be willing to provide that data if council so wishes.” He suggested it might be ready in October.

Fire Dept. seeking donations for ATV

As published in The Erin Advocate

Private donations are being requested to help Erin Fire & Emergency Services buy an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) for off-road rescues and firefighting.

Erin Town Council has declined to include the vehicle in the department’s budget, but encouraged firefighters to try to raise the money themselves.

“We cover a vast rural area,” said Fire Chief Dan Callaghan. “We want to provide the best response for the citizens of Erin. At these times of fiscal restraint, we have undertaken a fundraising drive to acquire this much needed piece of equipment.”

Crews are sometimes challenged with grass and other remote fires or the rescue of injured snowmobilers, mountain bikers, ATV users, hikers, farmers and horseback riders.

About $25,000 is needed for the ATV, which would accommodate two riders side by side, plus the costs of accessory/trailer equipment.

“This vehicle would be a dual purpose vehicle for fire fighting and rescues, and would be equipped with a removable pump and water tank, and a stretcher for medical emergencies,” said Callaghan, in a letter to local businesses.

He said they hope to purchase the vehicle locally, and make it available (with a driver) for community events such as trail tree planting, spring road clean-up and the Fall Fair.

The Town will issue tax receipts for any donations over $25. Cheques can be made out to Town of Erin, with a notation of “ATV Project”. Call Shelley Ballantyne at 519-855-4407, ext. 254 for more information.

Currently, if Erin firefighters need an ATV, they have to call for aid from neighbouring municipalities, which slows the response. They also have an arrangement to request help from the Hillsburgh Snow Roamers if a snowmobile is needed.

Council passes budget, starts spending it

As published in The Erin Advocate

Erin Town Council passed its budget bylaw with no discussion last week, and then approved a series of spending proposals totalling $629,439.

All of the final changes to the $13.35 million budget were debated at the previous council meeting, so the bylaw was a quick formality with no members voting against it.

While spending is expected to increase by $6.1% this year, the amount to be raised through property taxes, $5.53 million, will be up by only 3.03%. The average property tax bill, for a property assessed at $387,750, will increase by $34 for Town purposes.

The Town only gets 24.4% of the local tax revenue, while the county gets 55.2% and school boards 20.4%.

Erin’s operating costs for 2014 are estimated at $8.77 million, down just slightly from last year, while capital expenditures will rise by just over $1 million to $4.37 million.

“The Town continues to commit to the renewal and improvements of our municipal assets and infrastructure,” said Finance Director Sharon Marshall.

Approval was done in a series of staggered resolutions, to enable Councillor Deb Callaghan to vote on the majority of the budget, but to step away from the council table and declare a conflict of interest on matters pertaining to the Fire Department and Operational Review, since her husband is Fire Chief Dan Callaghan.

The bylaw was passed early in the meeting, so council could deal with some tender approvals for budgeted items, all of which passed without opposition.

• $319,010 for replacement of the 1999 road grader,

• $29,877 for an autogreaser and an extended warranty on the grader,

• $40,943 for a one ton cab and chassis (Ford F450),

• $17,814 for an aluminum dump box,

• $83,909 for road dust suppressant,

• $85,819 for road surface treatment,

• $27,075 for a GMC Sierra Pickup, and

• $24,990 for a Development Charges Background Study.

Marshall also highlighted a number of other elements in the budget:

• $45,010 in grants to community groups,

• $64,245 for an Economic Development Officer,

• $602,683 to continue reconstruction of 17 Sideroad, from Trafalgar Road to the Second Line,

• Rehabilitation of Erin village streets, particularly Water Street and Waterford Drive, including catch basins, curbs, gutters and final restoration,

• Road surface treatment of the First Line to Lot 3, as well as Hilltop Road, Roman Blvd., Jane Street, Market Street, Wellington Street and Elizabeth Street in Hillsburgh,

• $190,000 for an Environmental Assessment on the Station Street Bridge and Dam,

• $52,800 to replace the ice plant condenser at the Erin Arena,

• $19,500 for partial replacement of the Centre 2000 HVAC equipment,

• Completion of major studies, including the Servicing and Settlement Master Plan (SSMP), an Operational Review, a Strategic Plan, a Green Energy Conservation Plan and a Water Supply & Distribution Report,

• $240,000 to replace 32 sets of Fire Department breathing apparatus to meet new standards,

• $501,213 to finish off the Hillsburgh Fire Hall, and

• $15,000 to restore the turf on Barbour soccer field #1.

Resident seeks answers on Fire Dept. response

As published  in The Erin Advocate

Henri Gagne is a lucky guy, having survived a crisis where he needed CPR, but he has not been fortunate enough to get answers to all of his questions about the system that dispatches firefighters to medical emergencies.

The Hillsburgh resident wrote a letter to the Town of Erin last December, complaining that the Fire Department did not respond after a 911 call, and questioning provisions of the Tiered Response Agreement that Town Council approved in 2012.

Fire Chief Dan Callaghan said it appears that the Erin Fire Department should have been dispatched, but they were not signalled to respond.

The agreement with the dispatch centre and the ambulance service says that firefighters will always be dispatched (or “tiered”) in the most severe emergencies, where loss of life is an immediate threat. But in other serious cases that are slightly less severe, they will only be dispatched if an ambulance is expected to take longer than 15 minutes to get to the scene.

“A lot can happen in 15 minutes,” said Gagne in his letter. “My understanding is that the Town of Erin Fire and Emergency Response Services can respond and be on the way in 5-7 minutes. That extra 6-8 minutes can make a tremendous difference to the health and welfare of the patient.”

Gagne says the 15 minute time frame in the agreement could be shortened and the medical criteria changed, allowing firefighters to be dispatched in a greater percentage of serious cases.

Callaghan says that while there was a problem in this case “the agreement is solid”, based on experience and agreement among Wellington County fire chiefs.

“Fifteen minutes is reasonable,” he told The Advocate. “We have to determine where we can make a difference.”

Firefighters can perform Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), provide First Aid and supply oxygen if needed, but are not qualified for other medical interventions. They can also collect information and help keep victims comfortable until an ambulance arrives.

“I recently had need of emergency services where fire was not tiered (ambulance only 9-10 minutes out) and I subsequently required CPR,” said Gagne. “Had my wife not had the foresight to immediately call my son-in-law (who is a volunteer firefighter) after her 911 call, I wonder if I would be able to write this letter. My doctors didn’t think so. The two of them performed CPR until the ambulance arrived.

“While I was lucky that night, the ambulance was here in 9 minutes, what about next time when they may be 12 minutes out? What about the safety of others in the community?”

On March 4, Callaghan responded to Gagne, as requested earlier by Council. The chief said that based his conversations with Gagne, the call for help “should have activated an immediate tiered dispatch of Station 50 Hillsburgh to your home, as the information fit the Code 4 Response Criteria.”

Gagne has obtained a recording of the 911 call through a Freedom of Information request, but has not received an explanation from the Ministry of Health, which oversees the Cambridge Central Ambulance Communication Centre (CACC), as to why his emergency was not treated as a tiered call.

Gagne is not satisfied with Callaghan’s letter, since it did not address his questions about the agreement. He also pointed out that when Town Councillors approved the agreement in October 2012, the agreement was emailled to them, but not published for the public.

The agreement is not confidential, and can be downloaded with background documents at:
www.erininsight.blogspot.com.

When a 911 call is made in the Erin area, it is routed either to the OPP, the fire dispatch system (for regular fire calls), or the CCAC (for medical calls). If the medical emergency meets the criteria of the most serious Code 4 category in the Tiered Response Agreement, Erin Fire is dispatched, regardless of the ambulance time. 

If the emergency falls in the less urgent (but still Code 4) category, Erin Fire is only dispatched if the ambulance is more than 15 minutes away.

When there was no ambulance stationed in the Town, ambulance response times were often over 15 minutes, so firefighters were responding to most serious medical emergencies. Now that an ambulance is stationed part-time in Hillsburgh, firefighters are not called out as often.

For the Erin village station, there were 137 tiered calls in 2012, compared to 81 in 2013. For the Hillsburgh station, there were 72 tiered calls in 2012, and 37 in 2013.

Chief Callaghan could not provide the average response time for tiered calls, though response is quicker in the urban areas where the fire halls are located.

If a person is “not breathing”, or has “vital signs absent” it is a tiered response in all cases. But if they have a “breathing problem”, or “chest pain”, it is in the less severe category.

Callaghan said it is relatively common for people to have breathing problems or chest pain for some time before they call 911.

He said it would not be appropriate to send firefighters to all medical calls, and in the case of the less severe Code 4 calls, having firefighters arrive a few minutes before the ambulance normally does not make a difference in the medical situation.

Guelph Fire Chief Shawn Armstrong, who is responsible for the Guelph Wellington ambulance service, has been asked by The Advocate to provide average ambulance response times for the Town of Erin, but has not done so.

He has also not responded to a request for the total number of ambulance calls per year, the number of Code 4 calls and the number of tiered Code 4 calls.

County seeks better ambulance response data

As published in The Erin Advocate

County councillors remain in the dark about ambulance response times in their local communities, and will ask the Guelph-Wellington Emergency Medical Service (EMS) to provide more detailed monthly reports.

Erin Mayor Lou Maieron got unanimous approval last week for a motion to seek expanded data, with the request channeled through the Social Services Committee.

He said the service reports changed several years ago to show only district-wide average response times, instead of details for each municipality. EMS started stationing an ambulance 12 hours a day at the new Hillsburgh Fire Station last year, and the mayor would like to know if that has improved the service.

“Without the information, we’re sort of lost,” he said. “I’ve heard from my colleagues in the northern municipalities that ambulances are being pulled towards Guelph, leaving their communities a little bit vulnerable for ambulance service.” 

Seconding the motion was Erin Councillor Ken Chapman, who pointed out that the EMS website does not list the ambulance stationed part-time in Hillsburgh, or its schedule, as it does for other locations in the county.

“I have no idea when that ambulance comes into town or when it leaves,” said Chapman, noting his request last year for that information has not been answered. 

“I think that we are being ignored, that we are getting poor service if any service at all at times. When I see that there is more than one municipality that gets less than 24 hour a day service, that is not the way I think the people of Wellington County should be treated.”

The Ministry of Health standard is a response time of less than 15 minutes, 90% of the time. Based on all 18,380 calls in 2012, Guelph-Wellington had an average response time of 12.25 minutes, 90% of the time, according to their website.

“They homogenize it over the whole reporting area," said Maieron. "In a large urban centre like the City of Guelph, a focussed area with very little traffic time, you can generate some wonderful numbers. But when you’re dealing with the rural municipalities, the people on the outskirts, I don’t think the numbers are that good. The information is collected. It’s there. I’ve requested it numerous times in my four plus years on Social Services, and I haven’t received one piece of paper.”

Guelph Fire Chief Shawn Armstrong, the General Manager of Emergency Services including ambulance, could not be reached for comment. An EMS staff report last year said deteriorating response times have become “unacceptable” and urged Guelph council to hire 24 more paramedics and buy two more ambulances over the next four years. That decision has not bee made, but it would raise Guelph's costs by $1.4 million by the fourth year and Wellington County's costs by $950,000.

The communities of Guelph, Fergus, Mount Forest, Arthur and Harriston have 24 hour ambulance coverage from Wellington-Guelph EMS, under regular conditions, according to the EMS website. Drayton, Rockwood and Erin (Hillsburgh) have part-time coverage, plus support from neighbouring services.

Wellington North Mayor Ray Tout said he is concerned about ambulances being deployed away from his area at busy times, since it puts a greater strain on his fire department to provide initial response.

“We’re paying for an ambulance service,” he said, noting the $7.8 million contributed by the county, which covers 20% of the EMS costs. The City of Guelph pays 30% and the province 50%. “I guess what I’m asking for is communication, what services they provide, when they’re in our area. I’m not 100% sure the head office is being as up front with us as their staff is.”

Councillor Gord Tosh said while more information is needed, reports will not be identical to those in the past since they were previously generated by the provincial government. 

Wellington-Guelph EMS would not be providing call data from neighbouring ambulance services. Ambulances are dispatched into the Town of Erin from stations such as Acton or Caledon when they can provide the closest service.

Councillor Chapman said that with 12 of 15 ambulances staffed during the day, and 8 at night, “we don’t need more ambulances, we need more staff.” He added that the province should be able to supply detailed information about ambulance calls.

“They don’t want to give it to us, simply because it points out that we in Wellington County are not getting the service.”

Last year’s report by Stephen Dewar, EMS Chief for Guelph-Wellington EMS, said a growing population and the number of people with significant illnesses being discharged early from hospitals have contributed to an increase in the number of calls and the length of time ambulances are at those calls. Calls increased seven per cent per year in 2011 and 2012, well beyond the population growth.

The report said “patient outcomes” are being impacted by the fact ambulances are having an increasingly difficult time in hitting response target times. Those targets are laid out by the province, with the city setting compliance rates.

For the most serious calls requiring resuscitation, the province expects an ambulance to be on the scene in eight minutes or less. The city expects its ambulances to hit that target 65 per cent of the time, but they were actually only hitting it 63 per cent of the time.

“In 2014 we'll be looking to add more staff hours,” said Dewar. “We have some ambulances that aren't being staffed 24 hours a day. We'll also be continuing to try and use what we have as efficiently as possible.”

With files from Metroland News Services

15 Sideroad to be renamed

As published in The Erin Advocate

The Town will proceed with a bylaw to rename 15 Sideroad as Dundas Street East, out to Winston Churchill  Boulevard, with no objections raised by residents at a public meeting on November 26.

The change will make the name consistent starting at Main Street. The route was called Dundas Street within the former Village of Erin, but 15 Sideroad in the former Township of Erin. Those names were retained at amalgamation and the urban boundary was later adjusted, but the change-over point in the road name was not clearly marked.

Residents will keep their current address numbers, and the name change will take effect early next year. Urban residents normally have one to three digit numbers, while four-digit numbers usually indicate to the Fire Department that it is a rural address without fire hydrants.

The issue arose after a 15 Sideroad family had delays in getting ambulance service because of confusion over their location in the 911 database.

“When I call 911, I want a quick response,” said Janet Collis. “That’s the only issue – I don’t care about the name or the number.”

Former Township Reeve Duncan Armstrong also attended the meeting, and spoke in favour of the name change. About 25 notices of the meeting were sent out to area residents.

There was also inconsistency in the name of the road west of Main Street, including a section with no homes retaining the name 15 Sideroad. That entire road out to the Eighth Line will now be called Dundas Street West.

Firefighter honoured for service

As published in The Erin Advocate

Firefighters from Hillsburgh and Erin turned out in force at the November 5 Council meeting to honour Rick Adamson for his contributions over the last 20 years.

The communications room at the new Hillsburgh Station 50 will be named after him. MPP Ted Arnott presented certificates from himself and MP Michael Chong, and a Governor-General’s medal.

With other volunteer firefighters, he has dedicated time and effort to finishing the newly-constructed fire station. He is also the president of Wellington-Dufferin Mutual Aid, which coordinates assistance among municipalities in the event of major or multiple emergencies.

Councillor Deb Callaghan paid tribute to Adamson’s service.

“Rick is usually the first person at the station when a page is put out for an emergency in the community. In arriving first, Rick becomes the communications operator, something he is very skilled at.

“It takes a lot of experience to anticipate what is going to be required at an emergency scene, and by analyzing the incoming information from Guelph dispatch, Rick is often requesting Mutual Aid or other agencies to attend an emergency before the incident commander has time to request them.

“Rick is like Radar on the TV show M.A.S.H. – he seems to be able to read minds and make things happen before they are needed. Thank-you Rick for all the effort you have given our community.”

Rick Adamson was honoured for 20 years of service as a Hillsburgh firefighter. Left to right are MPP Ted Arnott, Councillor Jose Wintersinger, Adamson, Councillor Deb Callaghan, Mayor Lou Maieron and Chief Dan Callaghan.

Photos of Mundell mill fire

The story on the fire is in a separate post.
The first four photos are by ‎Andrew Greggain, supplied by Erin Fire Chief Dan Callaghan.

Photo of mill a few years after it was converted to a planing mill by Ben Mundell in 1896:

 

Photo of mill by David Clifford, just four days before the fire:

 

Photos by Phil Gravelle, eight hours after the fire started:

The vertical drive shaft of the mill, powered by water diverted through a mill race from the Charles Street dam.

Brian Oates demonstrating the mill's woodworking equipment at the Doors Open tour in 2010:

A series of photos taken by George Beshiri in 1975, published by Tim Inkster of Porcupine's Quill in his 2009 historical booklet McMillan's Mills. The first is of current owner Dana Mundell chopping away ice in the turbine area, and the rest showing the vintage machinery and drive system.