Exemption granted for Boblo fire garage

Amherstburg Municipal Building

Town council has agreed to exempt the proposed municipal garage to house a fire truck from post-disaster requirements under the Ontario Building Code.

A report from planner Janine Mastronardi pointed out that a post-disaster building means a building “that is necessary for the provision of essential services to the general public in the event of a disaster and includes hospitals, emergency treatment facilities, blood banks, telephone exchanges, power generating stations and electrical substations, control centres for air, land and marine transportation, water treatment and water storage facilities, water and sewage pumping stations, sewage treatment facilities, emergency response facilities, and communication facilities."

“Given this building is only housing a fire vehicle, council has the ability to exempt it from post-disaster construction,” the report stated.

Councillor Peter Courtney said he fielded several questions and concerns on the issue and asked administration to further explain the matter. CAO Valerie Critchley said usually there would be “six to ten major components” of the building that would raise the costs of construction.

Enhancements to the building needed for post-disaster construction would increase costs by $150,000-$250,000 over the budgeted $600,000 cost, Critchley indicated.

“The structure we are proposing will have heat, will have electricity and will have washrooms,” she said. “It’s not uncommon in these buildings (to have post-disaster exemptions made).”

Mastronardi’s written report said: “The proposed municipal garage is required to be constructed to meet Ontario Building Code spatial separation requirements for fire separation. The proposed municipal garage is to being built to house a fire truck. This structure will not be used as a fire station for staff operations and therefore the recommendation provides little to no risk.”

Exemption granted for Boblo fire garage

By Ron Giofu