South Bruce Peninsula council is ready to withdraw fire protection services from Georgian Bluffs.
South Bruce Peninsula voted unanimously to give 180-days notice to terminate its fire protection agreement with Georgian Bluffs, which provides fire protection to an area of Keppel Township, northeast of Shallow Lake through the South Bruce Peninsula Fire Department.
The move comes as Georgian Bluffs rejected South Bruce Peninsula's request that the annual retainer for fire protection services be doubled to $24,000 per year after fire department staff reported the agreement was not keeping up with rising expenses.
Councillor Matt Jackson says they are still willing to provide firefighting services to Georgian Bluffs, but points out South Bruce Peninsula taxpayers should not be on the hook for fire protection in Georgian Bluffs.
"The calculation we did was not a number we pulled out of a hat. We took the number of calls that came out of Georgian Bluffs and divided that number by the total budget of the fire department and that was how we came up with a cost that was appropriate for Georgian Bluffs. At the end of the day, our taxpayers can no longer afford to subsidize the residents of Georgian Bluffs," says Jackson.
South Bruce Peninsula council has offered to sit down with councilors from Georgian Bluffs to work out a new agreement before the current agreement terminates in early July.
