The RM of Rockwood council agreed to provide $400,000 for the expansion of its shared fire hall with the Town of Stonewall. Reeve Jim Campbell explains how the gracious decision to foot the bill came about.

"Several agreements that were drawn up years and years ago, and not the just the fire department -- we have a library and we have recreation, things like that -- they probably aren't really fair in today's world," says Campbell. "The arrangement we had with the Stonewall/Rockwood fire department rally wasn't fair for them. We felt just paying the minimal amount of rent we've been paying over the years for a 50/50 department just didn't seem fair. So, [with] money being tight, we need an expansion in that fire hall. One of the pumpers (truck) in there is 25 years old. It needs to be replaced. The trucks are bigger now than what they used to be, and it just wouldn't fit."

He adds the money's coming from fire reserves for equipment for the first year, along with a loan to finish off the rest of funding for 10 or 15 years.