Greater Napanee Fire given green light to purchase ice-water rescue gear

Many might remember a dramatic water rescue in March, wherein firefighters saved a woman whose car had found its way into the Napanee River. During this rescue, two firefighters entered frigid, swift moving water and were subsequently injured.

Greater Napanee Fire Chief James Feeney conducted a review of this situation and contacted the Ministry of Labour for recommendations. 

Part of these recommendations include the replacement of ice-water rescue equipment. Feeney is recommending council approve this expense as a capital expenditure with $21,553.00 (plus payable HST) to be funded from reserves and $9,209.00 (plus payable HST) to be funded through third party cost recovery.

Council approved this recommendation.

-The Town is not in the financial position to fund its own transit system. This was made clear through Grant’s report on transit options.

“We’ve had several transit discussions, from Deseronto Transit to a presentation from Napanee Cab about transit for low-income residents and seniors,” Grant began.

Often, noted Grant, when municipalities begin to operate their own transit system they are larger than Greater Napanee. But when speaking of transit options, there’s more than meets the eye. Grant outlined several transit options that could, in the future, be available to the municipality.

Speaking of a traditional, fixed route system, Grant described this as “necessarily excluding rural areas” noting he did not think the Town “could afford it or choose it”.

Up front costs for this type of system could be anywhere from $80,000 to $900,000.

A micro-transit, or “on demand” transit option is similar to how an Uber, or other ridesharing company, might operate.

For Greater Napanee, the start-up cost to implement this type of transit system is estimated to be $115,000, while yearly operating costs could range from $500,000 to $925,000.

Grant noted that, given favourable circumstances (i.e. partnerships or government funding), “the micro-transit solution would be suitable for us”.

The proposal by Napanee Cab for the Town to subsidize fares for low-income individuals would have an up-front cost of $30,000. And while the CAO noted he supports the idea in principle, he expressed concern about the Town partnering with this company for what he described as a “social services related program”.

The Town will provide a letter of support to Napanee Cab, who is moving forward with non-profit incorporation.

Rather than invest in a transit solely funded by the Town, Grant has recommended that staff reach out to other municipalities between Kingston and Belleville to gauge interest on jointly funding a regional on-demand transit system.

Council approved the staff recommendations without comment.