Brooke-Alvinston Councillor Jamie Armstrong says the municipality may not need an Inwood fire station.
He made the comments during a Feb. 12 budget meeting but was not available for comment Tuesday. According to the minutes, the councillor expressed concern about the possible tax increase and suggested “the removal of the fire service from Inwood.”
All the other councillors spoke against the move, as did Mayor Dave Ferguson and the fire chief who said he was concerned about removing the fire service from Inwood and what impact it would have on a service agreement with Dawn-Euphemia.
The municipality has budgeted $165,000 in capital costs for the Inwood department.
The town doesn’t have a hall since it couldn’t reach a lease agreement with the Inwood Firemen’s Association last year. A new building is expected to cost about $200,000 but the cost will be offset by the sale of the rescue truck.

Ferguson says council was surprised by the suggestion considering Armstrong had wanted council to sign a five-year lease agreement for the former Inwood hall a few months ago.
And Ferguson says the rest of council believe there is a need for an Inwood station.
“We need a presence in Inwood, we need a new building,” says Ferguson.
But the mayor admits Inwood won’t have the same fire presence as 2019. “We’re looking at how can we reconfigure (Inwood) to have costs savings. What do we really need there and have some cost savings. I’m not a fire chief, but we would like to keep a presence in Inwood; it will not be as large as it was before.”
Just before the new year, the equipment at the Inwood fire hall was removed when the town and the association failed to reach an agreement. Ferguson say the trucks and gear is being stored in the Alvinston area. “There is no equipment to respond with in Inwood,” he says adding the Brooke Fire Rescue “can be there in very adequate response times.”
But he doesn’t want that to become a permanent thing. “If I’m sitting in Inwood and nothing happens, great. But if I’m sitting in Inwood and there is a medical distress call, what then? It’s always that one time. You have to balance that with the costs and what sort of people (firefighters) we have.”
Brooke-Alvinston has set aside $200,000 for a hall which is expected to be an addition to the Inwood Library. Some of the costs will be offset by selling the rescue truck which was purchased about five years ago. The 2020 budget shows the department expects to sell it for about $50,000.
Ferguson says there will be no fire equipment in Inwood for the foreseeable future, saying it may be 2021 before construction begins on an Inwood fire hall.

Armstrong, in a Facebook post this morning, says he will ask council to hold a public meeting on the issue. He plans to make that request at a meeting Thursday afternoon.