Port Hardy Fire Rescue (PHFR) will be getting an extra officer added to the books.
At council’s last meeting on March 8, a recommendation from the Operational Services Committee was brought to the table regarding PHFR’s payroll and adding an extra officer to the budget.
Council discussed how many officers the department currently has on the payroll, and then approved the committee’s recommendation to update the fire department’s remuneration and increase the number of officer positions from five to six.
According to the District of Port Hardy’s policy manual, effective Jan. 1, the following compensation will be paid annually to PHFR officers:
Fire Chief $15,543.00;
Deputy Fire Chief $12,435.00; and
Officers (max six) $ 2,487.00 each.
Also effective on Jan. 1, all firefighters having completed basic training as required by the department shall be compensated for their time at a rate of $13.21 ($12.85*1.028) per event for the following:
Training nights (one per week);
Hall duty (two per month); and
Responding to a call.
Chief Administrative Officer Heather Nelson-Smith noted that by adding an officer to the budget it will give “an opportunity for them (PHFR) to build capacity and fill two positions rather than one, and they cut an administrative expense from their budget, which equals the same as an officer pay so there is no net change to the budget to accommodate this.”
@NIGazette
editor@northislandgazette.com
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