Skip to content

City of Powell River seeking public input into new emergency services facility

Firehall engagement sessions set for October/November
2622_new_firehall_powell_river
GATHERING OPINION: Public engagement sessions will be held to seek input on the proposed new firehall/emergency services facility, which would be situated at the City of Powell River works yard on Duncan Street at Ontario Avenue. A total of four sessions will be held during October and November.

City of Powell River will host public engagement sessions to gather public input into the prospect of a new firehall/emergency services facility.

At the October 21 city council meeting, councillor Maggie Hathaway outlined that the firehall/emergency services facility select advisory committee will be hosting the meetings.

“We invite you to attend public engagement sessions to learn about the work the committee has done on the proposal to build a new firehall/emergency services centre and to gather feedback on the project,” said Hathaway. “If you are interested in this project and you have input, or questions, or comments to make, we want to hear from you.”

Hathaway said sessions begin on October 27 at Westview Elementary School gym from 7 to 9 pm. The second is on November 3 at the ARC Community Centre, from 7 to 9 pm. The third session will be held at Dwight Hall on November 17 from 7 to 9 pm and final session will be held November 24 at the Italian Hall in Wildwood, also from 7 to 9 pm.

“Hopefully, people will come out,” said Hathaway.

Mayor Dave Formosa asked Hathaway to explain the process of building a new firehall.

“Some people think this is a done deal, building a firehall,” said Formosa. “Could you explain to the public what the process is like?”

Hathaway said she thinks where people might be confused is that fire chief Terry Peters had a feasibility study done before the committee was appointed. She said a good job was done and the study spelled out what was believed to be needed, according to standards.

“It was a rough proposal,” said Hathaway. “It was for the Barnet Street location. It was a starting point for us.

“We moved the location from Barnet Street up to the city works yard [on Duncan Street] and then we started on the feasibility study. We thought maybe we should start from scratch to go through and see what we could afford and then we’d come within those limits.”

Hathaway said motions were made and presented to city council to change the location. She said there was also the question of whether the project could be a design-build or a design-bid project.

Input required, says councillor

She said there was discussion about using the alternative approval process to gauge voter approval and input is still required.

“Do people want to do a referendum?” asked Hathaway. “We came up with a number of $7.5 million, but have you bought plywood lately? People are telling me we can’t get in for that number because costs are going up. This process has been going on for a long time, so the sooner we do it, the better off we’ll be, but we want to hear from the people.

“If people want a referendum and that’s what we hear from them, that’s what we’ll do. That’s the importance of these meetings. We want to hear from people.”

Hathaway said she can confidently say the current firehall cannot be seismically upgraded to a safe standard for staff.

“They’ve been there an awfully long time in unsafe conditions; as kind of their employer, I’m not happy with that,” said Hathaway. “We’re not looking for a Taj Mahal, which is the word that gets tossed around regularly. We’re looking for something that works that is up to the standard and replaces the building that is now outmoded.”

Councillor George Doubt said the firehall committee has been looking at the idea of a new firehall for more than a year. He said part of its mandate is to get public involvement.

“These consultations are an opportunity for the public to come out, see what the committee has done, and give input,” said Doubt. “This is an opportunity for the public to suggest to the committee what the public would like to see. No decision has been made on the end point yet. Hopefully, the committee will incorporate all of that knowledge into where they go from there.”

Hathaway said the committee hopes to wrap it all up and have a report, along with recommendations to council, by the end of December.