General News

Mono leaves question of fire permit fee to smoulder, decision set for future date

November 6, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

In the face of a new fire permit fee, Mono residents should take solace in the years when there was no such cost.

That’s the sentiment conveyed by Councillor Melinda Davie during a recent debate about the town’s fees and charges during a council meeting.

Deputy Mayor Fred Nix said he disagrees with the $30 fee for residents to get a permit to have a backyard fire.

“I think it’ll just deter people from reporting, from getting a fire permit,” he said. “They’ll just go ahead and have fires, and they won’t pay the fee. We won’t have any information as to where these fires are located.

“I hear you,” Davie said.

But.

Davie said she read the staff report about municipal fees and charges and related it to her personal life, as people do in such situations. So her dogs are going to cost more, and it will be more expensive to have a backyard fire.

“But come on,” she said, “It’s $30 and there’s an administration (cost). The point of the fees is that there is a cost to the town to administer these things. We should consider ourselves very lucky to have had this freebie being given for a long time.”

There are constraints on staff, and there are only so many hours in a workday, Davie said.

“It’s a very sad state to assume that our Mono residents are not law-abiding and will not have permits,” Davie said. “I would assume that they would appreciate that everybody’s time is worth money.”

It’s only – with emphasis on the word only – $30, she said.

Coun. Elaine Capes asked what other Dufferin County communities charge their residents for fire burn permits.

Nix said that in at least one municipality, namely Mulmur, there are no fire permits.

“So there’s obviously no charge,” Nix said. “I’m not sure of the other municipalities.”

Fred Simpson, the town’s clerk, said he would have to look into whether other county municipalities charge for such permits and, if so, how much they cost.

The Township of Melancthon has asked all county municipalities to review their respective fire bylaws. Simpson said the goal is to have common county-wide fire bylaws.

“So each town would have its own, but they would be rationalized,” he said.

Clerks of the county’s municipalities have established a group and scheduled meetings with the various fire chiefs to discuss the issue.

“The idea of a fee may be discussed at that time,” Simpson said.

Council decided to leave the issue until a future date when the bylaw and a possible associated fee will be debated.

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