Prince Edward County Council will consider a resolution to to ask the province to expand the life span of fire apparatus, especially fire trucks, at its meeting on Tuesday.
Councillor Brad Nieman is behind the motion which is seconded by Sam Branderhorst.
In November, council received an asset management report regarding its fire apparatus fleet and noted the budgetary pressures of meeting Fire Underwriters Survey replacement schedules.
The FUS establishes apparatus replacement schedules based on safety and risk mitigation practises.
The resolution notes that no provincial funding is available for new fire trucks, yet, small and rural municipalities must meet the same standards as larger municipalities for fire equipment, including ending the use of fire trucks when they reach a specific age, even though they can still meet the safety regulations.
If passed, council would send letters to MPP Todd Smith and Premier Doug Ford as well as Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the FUS asking to discuss a policy change.
The resolution would also be shared with all 444 municipalities in Ontario along with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, The Association of Municipalities Ontario, and The Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus .
