Williamsburg among four new TR Leger Campuses

A farmer’s brush fire set Saturday, along Ridge Road at Dundela, got so out of control South Dundas Fire and Emergency Services had to call in help from above to extinguish the blaze.

The fire to dispose of brush left over from land clearing lit Monday morning was out of control by 1-2 p.m. Monday, when firefighters were called in to try and extinguish the blaze which was starting to spread.

Iroquois, Williamsburg and Morrisburg firefighters were all on scene fighting the blaze from the ground.

“We had 1,600 feet of hose on the ground and we couldn’t get it under control said Chris McDonough, fire chief of South Dundas Fire and Emergency Services, who also reported that it was difficult to access the fire.

“The situation got really dangerous,” said McDonough. “Four guys were caught in a vortex, where there was fire all around them,” he said, of the very dangerous situation, that they managed to escape. 

However at that point, McDonough knew that drastic measures were needed to avoid injuries to the firefighters and to keep the fire from spreading.

“We had depleted all our resources,” he said, “We only had one truck left in Morrisburg, in case of some other emergency.”

So, about three to four hours after they were called to the scene, McDonough called in the Ministry of Natural Resources with their water tanker and spotter airplanes to extinguish the blaze that was starting to spread into an adjacent tree line towards the east.

The water tanker from North Bay was able to extinguish the fire in about four passes dropping a fire suppressant foam. 

“We were really fortunate to get the tanker,” he said. “Their turn around time between loads was 7-8 minutes. They did a really good job.”

One firefighter was treated by EMS for heat exhaustion and breathing issues.

The landowner, Alfred Ettlin, did have a burn permit, however the brush was piled in very large wind rows rather than piles. McDonough says these huge wind rows are the main source of the problem. 

“He had six rows (of brush) about 15 feet high and 500 feet long, spaced about 50-75 feet apart, so what was happening was the first wind row would start the next one, making it a very intense fire,” explained McDonough.

According to McDonough the farmer who owns the property will be responsible for paying for the cost of fighting the fire including the services of the fire bomber. 

The MNR rate for the services of the water tanker is $3,657.49 per hour. The required spotter plane costs $1,244.77 per hour and each load of foam dropped by the plane is $135.

[…]

Shaun Telfer, owner of the Morrisburg Canadian Tire store, and David Lapier, Jumpstart Project organizer, were at Seaway District High School on Friday, June 12, to receive a cheque for $1,589.39. The money was raised by the Seaway Spartans and the Iroquois-Matilda Lions club at the Fun Run held at the Iroquois Beach on May 9. The special Jumpstart event was organized by Allysa Mayhew and Jenna Douma, both students at Seaway and junior Lions. “We had a great fun run,” said principal Don Lewis, “and an excellent turn out. There were 90 participants from a baby in a stroller to a runner who was 75 plus. We were pleased to contribute to the Jumpstart project.” From the left are Don Lewis, Shaun Telfer, Iroquois-Matilda Lion, Nancy Barkley (who was also Jenna and Allysa’s mentor), David Lapier, Allysa Mayhew and Jenna Douma.

[…]

The first major review of South Dundas’ personnel policy since amalgamation, 14 years ago, has revealed a number of quirks that council is planning to change.

“I’ve never been anywhere else that I’ve gotten paid to go to a council meeting,” said Steve McDonald, South Dundas’ chief administrative officer at a special council meeting. McDonald’s career in municipal administration spans 30 years.

The day-long session, held October 31, gave council the opportunity to conduct a lengthy, line-by-line review of this and other policies.

Once council approves a bylaw change to the existing policy, the practice of paying managers to attend council meetings will come to an end in South Dundas.

When the new policy comes into effect, township heads of department will, instead of receiving $100 per meeting attended, be entitled to time in lieu.

Changes to the policy will also formalize the now informal system, require proper documentation and put a limit on the amount of time in lieu that can be accumulated and used in one year.

Another 14 year practice, fairly unique to South Dundas, is to pay more for overtime on Sundays than Saturdays. Currently, overtime on Saturdays is paid at the standard time and a half, but on Sundays the rate is double time.

When South Dundas councillor Jim Graham asked why Sundays are treated differently than Saturdays, the only answer was, “That’s the way it has always been done.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s right,” said Graham, who suggested that practices like this one that are fairly unique should be backed up with some documentation to explain why.

“While most of this policy is fairly standard,” said CAO McDonald, “some things in it are unique.” His only explanation of these quirks, that were put into place long before he arrived in South Dundas, was that they likely represent what municipal officials of the day decided to include, representing the ‘best of’ the four policies of the former municipalities.

“Some of these policies are still here, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be changed,” said McDonald.

When proposed changes come into effect staff will only receive a day off for Remembrance Day if it falls on a weekday. 

The practice of January 2 being considered a holiday will be gone. Instead staff will be granted a floating holiday to use at their discretion. 

The floating holiday was a concession to show council’s appreciation of staff their efforts to keep the township office open between Christmas and New Year’s. Most municipal offices shut down for the entire week.

South Dundas councillor Evonne Delegarde suggested eliminating the two half days off that staff get on New Year’s Eve and Christmas Eve, however the remainder of council did not agree.

The Township of South Dundas has 30 full time staffers, including nine department heads (managers), five part time employees and 15 seasonal employees.

[…]