The County of Grande Prairie is taking another shot at formalizing a mutual aid agreement for regional fire service. The option was discussed when the County launched its own fire service at the beginning of 2012, but Reeve Leanne Beaupre says talks fell through when payment was brought up.
“Mutual aid is something that we offer to our other neighbours at no cost. So in the event that they have a fire where their complement is not able to handle it themselves, it’s something that we do for our neighbours without looking for compensation.”
The City and County of Grande Prairie recently worked together to come up with a joint master recreation plan, and the County hopes to keep the collaboration going. Beaupre says the province is encouraging more collaboration between municipalities, and they already have several similar agreements in place.
“With the different towns and villages, as well as the City and even some of our neighbours to the north and south of us and east and west of us, so it’s just a matter of getting it all together and being able to show the province exactly what we do up here in the north.
Council has asked staff to write the City a letter asking it to reconsider becoming a member. Despite not having an agreement, Beaupre says there’s always been an unwritten commitment to help.
