Boat removed from Sudbury auction in rare 'about-face' from city

Skead fire rescue boat saved from auction block Skead residents shocked to see their fire hall’s rescue boat on the city's auction site – it was removed after contacting their councillor.

In what’s become a rare ‘about-face’ from city officials, the fire rescue boat that was once stored in Skead was put up on the auction block and taken down within 30 minutes of residents complaining.

Skead Fire Rescue Boat The fire rescue boat that was once stored at the Skead Fire hall was temporarily put up for auction before local residents alerted city officials to their issue with the sale. (Ian Campbell/CTV News Northern Ontario)

The maintaining of fire services has been a hot-button topic for many in the outlying communities of Greater Sudbury who feel the city hasn’t done enough to keep up with the status quo and demands of their volunteer ranks and fire halls.

In Sudbury, last April, hundreds came out to a town hall in Skead to save their hall which had been slated for closure by the city. A damaged wall had forced officials to close the building and nothing was being done to re-open it.

After making their voices heard and with help from their area councillor, city council decided to keep it open provided they could maintain a steady amount of volunteers in its ranks.

So this week, when residents noticed the Skead rescue boat for Wahnapitae Lake had been put on the auction block, many immediately took the issue directly to their councillor.

“Anger for sure, people were shocked that we hadn’t been consulted. It went viral very quickly,” said Nicole Everest, a Skead resident who helped lead the committee of citizens who rallied to save the hall.

Everest and her team, at the time, told CTV News there were several reasons they wanted to see the hall stay open including maintaining a presence for water rescues on the lake.

“Because the lake is so dangerous and the proximity to the airport, and the one road in, one road out so Skead is very isolated and it’s really important to have the right resources here in case of an emergency,” she said.

The group said they noticed the post was taken down within 30 minutes of contacting Councillor Natalie Labbée, who represents Ward 7 – which includes Skead.

“For them to realize it was on the auction block without having some kind of consultation about an alternative use for the boat was very alarming to them, as it was for me, so he (Deputy Chief Jesse Oshell) and I got together immediately and he offered his services to me,” Labbée told CTV News.

Labbée said she and the mayor didn’t know about the situation until she was alerted by constituents. While auctioning off surplus, she added, and alerting council is not a typical move Labbée said she was surprised the boat had been declared as such.

The councillor said she has been working with others behind the scenes, some community-led groups, in trying to get the boat back to Skead.

She’s looking to hopefully have future discussions about the project and she said she is confident if they can do what they’re trying to accomplish that residents will be happy.

“I would have appreciated the heads up and maybe just have a conversation about that absolutely and I have conveyed that to them,” Labbée said about the ordeal at the city level.

“I think we can do better with communication.”

CTV News also reached out to city communications and was told “we are exploring other options for this boat, outside of Fire Services. We’ll reach out to you about these plans once we know more.”

For now, the boat is off the block and a newsletter will be going out to Skead shortly informing residents they are hopeful they will be able to re-open the hall in June.

The residents in Skead said they have questions but they are considering saving the boat a small victory.

“We’re excited in terms of wanting to work with the city and that, they just need to want to work with us,” said Everest.