The joint advisory subcommittee looking into shared Lincoln and Grimsby fire services has been given more time to research how far those shared services should go.
“We’ve extended the pilot (project) one year through June of 2025,” said Lincoln chief administrative officer Mike Kirkopoulos. “The whole point of this shared service pilot project is really to explore the pros, the cons, the right thing to do and if so, what does that look like long term.”
The two towns have been sharing fire department administrative services as part of the review since Oct. 1, 2021.
Kirkopoulos said the committee will hire a consultant to assist the group in its review.
“Our goal would be to have a decision by June 2025,” he said.
Both towns have volunteer firefighters, while training and administration are full-time positions.
“The Town of Grimsby believes it’s important that we do our due diligence with the proposed recommendations by the consultants and complete a thorough review for both of our communities,” said Sarah Kim, Grimsby’s CAO. “By utilizing a subcommittee, we will ensure we’re on task during this extension.”
According to the Town of Lincoln’s website, the second phase of the pilot project would “proceed to full implementation of the partnership, further addressing alignment of staffing, cost sharing and capital property.”
The subcommittee includes some councillors, CAOs from both towns and senior fire officials.