The town is one step closer to getting a new fire hall.
Amherstburg town council approved the tender for the new south fire station, which will combine stations one and three at the Libro Centre site. The motion that was passed in a 4-3 vote read: “The approved budget for the South Fire Station be reduced by $507,568.42 resulting in a final budget of $11,330,407.58, inclusive non-recoverable HST, for which up to $10,916,108 will be funded through debt; the Chief Administrative Officer and Clerk be authorized to award the tender for the South Fire Station to Niacon Limited. and execute an agreement for $9,883,104.79 plus HST; the Chief Administrative Officer and Clerk be authorized to execute an amendment of the Town’s agreement with Masri O’ Architects for $222,645 plus HST for required engineering oversight on construction; and that the Project Manager and Fire Chief be authorized to execute scope changes for the project at an amount not to exceed $10,000 for each instance and further any scope changes above $10,000 and/or any scope changes of any amount once use of the contingency funding reaches the cumulative amount of $75,000, requires approval by the Chief Administrative Officer, Deputy CAO/Director of Development Services, Fire Chief, Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer, Director of Infrastructure Services and Director of Parks, Facilities and Recreation, or designates.”
Voting in favour were Mayor Michael Prue, Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb, Councillor Linden Crain and Councillor Don McArthur. Opposed were Councillor Diane Pouget, Councillor Molly Allaire and Councillor Peter Courtney.
“I’m going to support this because, at this point, I think it’s the right thing to do,” said Prue.
Prue recalled voting in favour of a three-station model instead of the two-station model that was passed by the previous council, where he was a councillor.
Noting that “I lost,” the mayor said “I moved on because you have to move on.”
Pointing out the high cost, Prue added he was pleased with the work of town administration to work to bring the expenses down.
“I thank staff because you have done the right things to bring the costs down,” said Prue. “You have gone the extra mile.”
Prue acknowledged there will be those who question this council for voting in favour of it, but believed people will see that it was worth it. He suggested former stations, such as station three, could be sold in addition to other buildings to offset some of the costs.
“I don’t like giving money away in interest if we don’t have to,” said Prue.Gibb also pointed out the issue of cost, but believed town council had little choice but to make the investment into a new fire hall.
“I don’t think any one of us wants to spend the money,” said Gibb.
Previous councils left the current fire halls “to rot” and he said he didn’t want to “kick this down the road” for future generations to have to deal with.
“We haven’t invested in them,” he said of the current three fire stations. “This has to be done. I don’t want to do it but we don’t have a choice.”The new four-bay fire station will also contain a new emergency operations centre, which the deputy mayor believed will be beneficial to the community. He added while not an expert in building construction, “pretty buildings don’t cost more than ugly buildings,” in reference to criticism the building is fancy and too extravagant.
Courtney said he is not a fan of the design, bid, build methodology that was being used. He added he was not fond of going to a two-station model, worrying there was going to be “dead zones” in the community. LaSalle is increasing its number of fire stations while Amherstburg is going down one, he added. He said he voted no because that was the way he has been voting all along.
“I think we could have done improvements to the existing structures,” he added, comparing it to the new public high schools. He said the former General Amherst High School had beautiful architecture while the current North Star High School “looks like a factory.”
Courtney questioned fire chief Bruce Montone as to whether the new fire station could be adapted and modified. He said the province “is pushing regionalization down our throat” and wanted to know if extra bedrooms could be added, if needed. Montone said the building will have areas that could be re-purposed if need be and there could be room to expand to the west should there be a need in future years.
“This seems like a want and not a need,” Courtney said of the proposed new fire hall. He believed it had to simply be a functional building.
There are 13 principle criteria the town looks at, Montone countered, and five are the same as today, seven are less than what the town has today including a reduction in bays and one is an improvement.
“The only area that is more is the cancer reduction area, which is for very, very good reasons,” said Montone.
Courtney also wanted to know how the town is protected going forward from increased costs, with CAO Valerie Critchley stating there were several steps taken including the pre-qualifying of contractors. Montone added they started with 11 contractors and reduced the list to seven during the process before working their way to one successful bidder.
The new fire hall will protect firefighters and residents, McArthur stated, noting two straight town councils have arrived at the same conclusion. While the town should have started putting money aside years ago for new fire halls, McArthur said fire stations are very expensive.
“If you want a new fire hall, you have to pay for it,” said McArthur. “It’s extremely expensive.”
Building a new fire hall is the best option, McArthur believed, instead of “dumping money into fire halls that are falling apart.”
Montone said the cost was higher to renovate the three fire stations than to build two new ones, with the second most expensive option being to renovate one fire hall and build one new one.
“Two new stations is the best value for your buck,” he said, with a new station also recommended for the north part of town.
McArthur noted there have been costs comparisons to the new LaSalle fire hall, being built on Front Road. While admitting he has been mainly going off of media reports of costs, Montone estimated costs in LaSalle are $650 per square foot versus $550 per square foot in Amherstburg.
Crain said the town has already spent in excess of $600,000 in consulting fees.
“We have to move forward,” said Crain. Crain stated costs are only going to go up, adding the state of the current fire stations is “quite saddening.”
“This is the way to go,” said Crain. “We have to invest in the health and safety of our firefighters.”
Allaire said she couldn’t support the motion for multiple reasons. She believed costs were removed in the wrong areas, noting going from a metal roof to asphalt shingles was not the area the town should be seeking to save costs on as the shingles will have to be replaced in 10-15 years.
“I support our firefighters. I want a new fire hall,” said Allaire. “I don’t support where we got to on this one. It doesn’t sit well with me.”
In addition to the shingles, Montone said there are other savings such as reusing dirt from the excavation in other town projects and utilizing parks staff to landscape at the site. He added there will be no tile or carpet in the new fire station, just concrete floors.
Pouget listed numerous reasons in her opposition to the motion. She said she was against removing a fire station in Malden Centre, stating the area is growing. She believed response times would increased and the new fire station would be farther from high rises, seniors homes and residences in the downtown core.
“The Libro Centre is very busy,” said Pouget. “It will jeopardize the safety of soccer players and other athletes. It will reduce the number of soccer fields.”
The town has a $25 million debt and this will add to it, in addition to the need for a $30 million water plant upgrade plus other infrastructure expenses. Pouget called for the matter to be deferred until incoming chief Michael Mio comes on board and also wanted the Amherstburg Firefighters Association consulted.
With debenturing, Pouget said costs could swell to $21 million, but she questioned how earlier estimates of $28 million over the course of a 30-year debenture had been slashed. Critchley said interest rates have dropped since initial estimates were given, the town will be using development charges towards paying for it and the town may not have to debenture as much as anticipated.
“When you are not debenturing as much, it does save an appreciable amount of money,” said Critchley.
Montone said the consultant doing the town’s space needs study is aware of the plans and will incorporate what the fire department is doing into its report. The chief added that the new hall is anticipated to be complete by August 31, 2025.
Tender for new fire hall approved by town council
By Ron Giofu
Comentários