On Tuesday night’s meeting of city council John Vallee, president of Vallee Consulting, Engineers, Architects & Planners, presented an update on their design for the new Fire Station 1.
Coming off a shocking report that highlighted the shortcomings of the current fire station, including asbestos and leaking sewage, the proposed design will install a state-of-the-art facility, which features a laundry room and a fitness room, on the corner of Collier Road and McCleary drive.
The total projected construction cost for the design is $10,167,000 but because of what is dubbed as the Covid-19 factor, which encompasses things like supply issues brought on by the pandemic, the total cost for the project would be brought to $11,183,700.
Said Vallee, “We are looking here at the bottom line of 11 million dollars and that is our best guess, but I have to caution council, that is simply that, a guess.”
Said Councillor John Kenny, “The price tag is obviously pretty high and everybody is going to be concerned about that. Are the taxpayers going to pay for a fitness room for firefighters that are there to work? Where does it stop? A domestic laundry room, and a fitness room, I have trouble paying for that.”
Replied Vallee, “Firefighter fitness is really important for health and safety. We all encourage our firefighters to be in top condition when they have to go and carry people out of burning buildings and so on. I understand but it’s fairly common in this type of building.”
Said Councillor Ken Sentance, “We have to find a way to pay for it. Is us putting it in the budget get us a step closer to finding funding from different sources to get money for this project? I read in the original reports they were thinking about selling the old firehall to pay down some of the debt. Is that still a possibility?”
Replied fire chief Terry Dixon, “Ultimately that becomes council’s decision.”
After the presentation city council unanimously voted to put the project on the agenda of the 2022 budget deliberations, where it will be further discussed and voted upon.
The projected timeline for the project, as of now, aims to start construction by July 2022, for a summer 2023 completion date.
