A proposed memorial to Port Colborne firefighters who died in the line of duty was axed from the city budget last year in a bid to cut costs. The Port Colborne Fire Department is bringing the proposal back to city hall for the 2020 budget. - Image via Port Colborne city hall
Port Colborne fire Chief Tom Cartwright, wants to see a project to build a memorial to fallen firefighters brought back, after it was cut for financial reasons last year.
Late in the budget deliberations for 2019 (just minutes before it was finalized on the last meeting) councillors were still looking to trim around the edges of the budget to get the annual tax hike to drop a bit. A proposal to build a monument to Port Colborne firefighters who died in the line of duty was included in the 2019 budget, with a price tag of about $30,000. It was cut via a split decision.
“I was very upset when we struck this from the budget last year,” said Ward 2 Coun. Angie Desmarais when the project resurfaced at city hall on Monday as a 2020 budget item. “I think Port Colborne wants and needs this memorial.”
Cartwright said he got a more detailed look at the project over the past year, including a clearer estimate of costs. The monument itself is now pegged at $34,000 with another $8,000 for work to install it at the firehall.
The monument will include the names of three fallen Port Colborne firefighters: Nicholas Cook died in 1970; Harry Chevalier died in 1990 when he drowned in Lake Erie; and John Mayne died this year, and his death is considered as being in the line of duty. It's common practice among fire departments to consider firefighters who died of illness related to years of exposure to toxins from fighting fires as having died in the line of duty.
With the cost of the monument now climbing past $40,000, the project proposal as presented to council included the option for financial donations from the community to help offset the amount kicked in by the taxpayers. The city portion of the proposal was axed on Monday, leaving donations and grants as the sole funding avenue for the memorial.
Financial issues aside, not everyone around the council chamber was convinced.
Ward 3 Coun. Frank Danch said he didn’t want to see the city build a memorial, regardless of who is footing the bill.
“I don’t think I want to look at a memorial that reminds me of someone who died when I went to work,” said Danch, who was a volunteer firefighter when Chevalier died in 1990. “I turned this down last year, and I will not support this now. I don’t think it’s right.”
Desmarais disagreed, and said building the memorial is the right thing to do.
“It can be hard, but it can also be very helpful to the family members left behind, and for people who are fighting those fires today, to know that people care, that they matter to all of us, and their efforts matter to all of us,” said Desmarais.
Link to original article on niagarathisweek.com: Port Colborne fire chief wants memorial project back in budget