What began as a benign recommendation on behalf of the Fire Services Advisory Committee quickly ignited debate at South Huron Council’s meeting on Monday (August 14).
The recommendation to council suggested that they open up facility access to municipal fire stations by other on duty emergency service workers, in particular OPP.
According to Councilor Oke (who is the chair of the committee), the recommendation came out of the intention of increasing police presence in the community, and fostering collaboration between emergency service workers.
Councilor Aaron Neeb raised concerns about liability on municipal property, but also highlighted the unfulfilled commitments made by OPP West Region’s Chief Superintendent John Cane at the groundbreaking of the central OPP office in Clinton in 2018.
Deputy Mayor Jim Dietrich sits on the police services board, he says that the chances of OPP opening a satellite office in Exeter are virtually zero. He advocated for the change as it would increase police presence in South Huron.
Mayor George Finch didn’t pull any punches, he called the move “a slippery slope” – saying that OPP unilaterally and without public consultation decided to close Exeter’s station. He was against the move at the time, and says that allowing the use of South Huron’s facilities is an offloading of responsibility and funds to the municipality.
Councilor Marissa Vaughan proposed that they escalate the concerns about lack of police presence in the region,
The motion for the use of South Huron’s facilities was ultimately not carried forward.
Written by: B. Shakyaver