Fort Simpson (Feb 03/06) - Following a week of disputes between the village administration and the volunteer fire department, the Village Council of Fort Simpson has been dissolved.

Michael McLeod, the minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, announced the decision on Jan. 31 placing a municipal administrator in charge of the village.

The decision is the end result of a disagreement that was sparked by the wording of a memo about a purchase order for snow removal sent from the village to Pat Rowe, the volunteer fire chief.

Rowe said the personal nature of the last paragraph of the memo showed a lack of confidence in him. Coupled with long standing issues, it lead him to resign his 13-year position as fire chief on Jan. 24. Rowe had volunteered with the fire department for a total of 23 years.

Roger Pilling, the deputy fire chief, also submitted his resignation that day. Pilling had been on the fire department for 17 years, six as deputy chief.

"The only reason I resigned was to get some action," Pilling said during one of the emergency council meetings.

On Jan. 26 at 5 p.m. the rest of the volunteer fire department resigned stating they couldn't continue safely without qualified leadership and guidance.

Four village councillors including Owen Rowe, Norm Prevost, Kim Squires and Betty Hardisty, as well as Bernice Swanson the senior administrative officer also resigned over the dispute.

"In 25 years this is the worst thing I've had to deal with in the village," said Norm Prevost at the second emergency council meeting held on Jan. 27.

Prevost and Coun. Dave Wright represented the village council in negotiations with the volunteer firefighters that were mediated by RCMP Cpl. Al Shepherd.

Negotiations were broken off on Friday night after an impasse was reached. The lack of resignation from Mayor Raymond Michaud was a major stumbling block.

"I'm extremely concerned, that's why I'm remaining as mayor," Michaud stated at the emergency meeting on Friday night.

Earlier during negotiations, Michaud had said he would resign if it was guaranteed to bring the fire department back.

During an emergency village council meeting on Monday, four remaining councillors voted unanimously to remove the mayor with a motion that stated, "Council declares the actions of the mayor constituted an imminent and serious danger to the community."

During the dispute, members of the community have been concerned about the safety of the town's residents and buildings.

"You don't sleep very good when you don't have someone there if something happens," said Rita Cazon at one of the emergency meetings.

"It's torn this community apart," she said about the disagreements.

Deputy mayor Bob Hanna said the situation caught the council unprepared.

"We've all taken the fire department for granted. We got caught with our pants down which is what this amounts to," said Hanna on Sunday.

Debbie Delancey, the deputy minister of MACA, will be acting as the municipal administrator for the village until a replacement can be found.

The decision to dissolve council was made after meetings on the weekend made it apparent that council could no longer operate effectively, said Delancey, adding this is a temporary measure.

"It's not MACA's intention or desire to be running the affairs of Fort Simpson," she said.

MACA has two priorities for the village. The first is to hold an election. Delancey said the department is working to find out how soon that could happen. The second priority is to ensure emergency services are available on an ongoing basis, she said.

Bernie Van Tighem, the NWT fire marshal, was sent to the village on Jan. 29 to provide interim leadership. The next day Mike Lowing arrived to take charge of the fire department for a week.

Both Pat Rowe and Roger Pilling have said they haven't ruled out the possibility of returning.