Emergency 911 and House Numbering

For those who didn't get one, Powell River Regional District (PRRD) is proposing to institute 911 emergency service on Lasqueti to dispatch our Fire Department, because Telus will stop providing pager service at the end of March. There will be property tax increases to cover the capital costs (just under $100,000) and operating costs (about $8,000 per year) to PRRD. There will also, I am sure, be charges on our phone bill for the 911 service. 

From reading the Lasqueti Trust Committee agenda package, I'm also aware that the North Island  911 Corporation has asked the Islands Trust Fund if they can put a structure and antenna, a 911 repeater, on the the Mt. Trematon Nature Reserve. You can read that information in the last three pages of the package, available at:

http://islandstrust.bc.ca/media/302364/la-ltc-agd-pkg-2015-02-05.pdf

It is by no means assured that a structure and antenna can be put on Mt. Trematon. First, the Lasqueti Land Use Regulations do not permit the erection of any structures on that property, and they would have to be changed by the community and Lasqueti Trust Committee. Second, the donors of the property (the Gordon family) the covenant holders and Environment Canada, and the Trust Fund Board, would all have to give their approval. I know that the Gordon family does not think it's either necessary or a good idea to put any structure on the Nature Reserve, let alone on the most sensitive spot - the top. I would be surprised if either of the covenant holders or the Trust Fund Board will support the idea; maybe, if it absolutely necessary.

I think that the 911 repeater is desired/needed so that the 911 dispatchers can contact the Lasqueti Fire Department members (hopefully including First Responders) to dispatch them when one of us has called 911 to request emergency help (police, fire, ambulance).

I have some doubt that a single antenna, even if located on the highest spot on Lasqueti, will be able to reach everywhere on the island. Our Broadband system had to use multiple antennae in order to serve as many people and locations a possible. It doesn't work everywhere on Lasqueti.

Another huge obstacle will be for the 911 dispatchers, wherever they are located, to be able to tell our emergency responders where to go. PRRD plans to institute a house numbering system (costing $18,628 to set up), where they will assign house numbers/civic addresses to each dwelling. The main criteria so far expressed is "Where do you access your property - off which road?".  There are many properties that don't have any road access, and dwellings that are far from any road. Emergencies, including fires, don't always happen near a dwelling with a convenient road nearby and an assigned number.

It has been difficult enough for the past many years for local community members, volunteering as dispatchers, to be able to direct firefighters and first responders to where they are needed. I don't see it being easy, and maybe not even possible, to put together a map and directions book that will enable someone from off-island to dispatch in emergencies.

This proposal seems to me to have been put together by too few people, without enough knowledge and experience of the community. I don't know why the Powell River Board decided that it was best to add Lasqueti to the Emergency 911 service and House Numbering service. Did they consider any other possible solutions? Do they think this one (or these two) will work? What other possible options did they consider?  Telus has said they will discontinue their pager service at the end of March. Rogers and Shaw both will continue to provide pager service, for at least the immediate future. I don't know if they work on Lasqueti. Possibly, we could buy some of the Telus equipment and run our own local paging system.

I don't know what other options there might be, but I do think it is always a bad idea to provide a solution to a community before you present them with the problem. I think there needs to be a good deal of discussion about the problem, and possible solutions, within the community. This is not the sort of solution that should be made by the Powell River Regional District's board of directors, even if they include our regional director and (I hope) our fire chief in their discussions. It isn't a good idea to only present one solution, and this is especially true when it includes a pretty hefty tax increase in the first year and a plan that looks like it won't work very well.

Perhaps we can have some of the needed discussion by email, so more of us can participate in it before the public meeting scheduled for Friday, February 13, 7pm at the Arts Centre, where we are invited to get "informed about how these services work and what their impact will be." Hopefully, some of our views and opinions will be listened to, as well.