The city will cease all work on a proposed fire services contract that would have brought in extra revenue as well as beefed up the number of firefighters on staff. St.
The city will cease all work on a proposed fire services contract that would have brought in extra revenue as well as beefed up the number of firefighters on staff.
St. Albert city council met in camera Monday night at the end of its regularly scheduled meeting to discuss a negotiation matter, which was the fire protection services contract that St. Albert Fire Services chief Ray Richards initially brought to council’s attention in January.
While council authorized administration to enter into the agreement, it was never officially signed by the other party, a commercial client located at the Enoch Cree Nation. While no member of city council or administration will confirm it, the client is believed to be the River Cree Resort & Casino, which had previously contracted fire protection from Edmonton.
“Basically the concern was that the client a) wasn’t signing and b) there were other financial issues so we’ve decided not to pursue it any further,” said Mayor Nolan Crouse, who would only speak generally about the fire protection contract.
The perception has been that River Cree required fire protection once its agreement with Edmonton ended in order to secure insurance. It is not known why the resort and Edmonton were not renewing their agreement.
Different media outlets have reported in recent weeks on the serious financial issues the River Cree faces. On April 20 it was reported the casino had defaulted on a $111-million dollar loan and was on the verge of bankruptcy.
“We have concluded everything,” Crouse said. “We’re not going any further on this.”
The city only ever described the client as a private company outside the city boundaries. If the contract had been signed, St. Albert would have been required to hire six new firefighters and promote four members to the rank of lieutenant. The promotions have taken place, but are not linked to the contract, which was never added to the budget.
“We didn’t have anything in the budget so the costs and the benefits haven’t been rolled in,” Crouse said.
Under the contract, the River Cree would have paid the city for one four-person engine company and one three-person aerial company to respond to any alarms. No new vehicles would have been required. The first contract would have been five years in length, with the potential to extend the contract up to 20 years.
A report presented to councillors in January showed that River Cree had averaged only six calls over the last “several years,” all of which have been false alarms.
