Perth County received a recent presentation at council investigating a potential partnership with two neighbouring counties.
Warden Jim Aitcheson says the report presented some possible recommendations regarding a joint emergency services agreement with Oxford and Elgin counties. Aitcheson says now a committee will be formed to further investigate.
"So where that's at now is, they'll set up a joint committee with representatives from Oxford, Elgin and Perth, and they'll look at some of the recommendations or what we'll be able to do to implement some of them."
Oxford, Elgin and Perth could potentially share costs for buying certain equipment to enhance their local emergency services, Aitcheson says, but there is something even more significant being considered.
"One of the bigger recommendations was maybe putting up another ambulance base in the Tavistock/Shakespeare area, because we do have weak spots, Oxford and Perth, where the response time's a little longer. That happens when you're out on the edges of the service district. If there's a call, they're not gonna be there in 6 minutes. So one of the recommendations is putting up a base there and work together with Oxford to do it. That's one of the things the committee will look at for sure."
In terms of next steps, Aitcheson says the committee will take the information presented in the report from last Thursday, and come up with a list of things to potentially move forward on.
"They'll come up with some recommendations and take it back to the respective councils for their deliberations. So the committee is only going to come up with further ideas or what they think is viable or not viable, and then it will be up to the councils to decide what they want to move forward with."