"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Thursday 3 July 2014

That is the Question

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "They Seek it Here They seek it there .":

The question about hydrants was answered for us completely.

No it wasn't the question was: "What is the cost to taxpayers for the fire hydrant program that seems to be in place?"

Posted by Anonymous to Our Town and Its Business at 3 July 2014 11:20


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So I thought.  go to the Town's web site and ask 

Then I thought... I never do that. 

Then ...if I'm ever going to get the hang of it....now's the time .Then I can be a smart-ass and say.
with confidence ...Go to the Town's web site and ask 

Well I tried . I followed the steps. ..  I asked . .. Emergency Services   ... Maintenance cost  for fire hydrants. 

No results were found.  I thought I missed a step. ..tapped again. I know it's in there somewhere.

Advanced search ...put in all the words...did that...no results were found. 

Changed the words to Fire Protection Services. 

Two results.

one about engineering plans having nothing to do with fire protection. 

two about parks maintenance. 

So I gave up. I have to go out now. 

One thing I  know, the budget for the fire department is about $20 million. More than a third of the entire  town budget. I haven't heard an alarm so there will be plenty of people at the fire hall waiting for an alarm. 

Maybe  somebody  there knows how to negotiate the town's web site  or check the fire department budget for the cost of fire hydrant maintenance. 

I also know  fire hydrants must be maintained and they must be  instantly visible .They cannot be obscured by vegetation or painted to blend in with the house colour scheme. 

And if the fire department got there and the hydrant wasn't working properly , there would likely be hell to pay. 

The Ontario Fire Marshall would  carry  out an investigation and recommend  three  more crews be added for additional twenty -four - hour coverage, 

The  fire budget would reach fifty per cent pf the entire town budget.

The Fire Department would still spend most of their time  waiting at the fire hall for the alarm to go off. 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I too have tried to use the town web-site. Just for tiny items like minutes from a meeting last month. Zilch. Thinking it was my error, I hi-lighted the date & used caps for MINUTES. Nope. still waiting.

Anonymous said...

Funny how your blog works. I went to get that check on my car for clean air - flunked it - and found myself looking at fire hydrants all along the route both ways. They were mostly yellow with a variety of green tops. Wonder if someone colour-blind can become a fire-person ?

Anonymous said...

@13:12
If you were hunting for the minutes of Council meeting on June 24th, they are posted now.