qathet Regional District (qRD) staff will look into a request to donate the old Lund fire hall to Lund Community Society.
At the June 10 qRD committee of the whole meeting, directors reviewed a written request from Charles Latimer, on behalf of Lund Community Society, to acquire the old building that will be vacated once the new Lund fire hall is built.
Electoral Area A director Patrick Brabazon, whose electoral area includes Lund, said he’d like to make a motion to ask staff to prepare a report on the regional district’s options for disposal of the old fire hall property.
“We can receive that sometime when we are ready to make a move,” said Brabazon. “The motion is to prepare a report so we know what we’re talking about.”
Electoral Area E director Andrew Fall said it would be good to have the report and he assumes it would include implications of including Latimer’s proposal as one of the options and maybe looking at other options so the regional board can make an informed decision.
Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said when he first saw the correspondence, he wondered why the regional district couldn’t transfer the fire hall to the Lund Community Society, then he realized it’s probably not that simple. He said he agreed with Brabazon that a report outlining steps of transferring an asset from one service to another is warranted.
The committee voted for the staff report and also voted to receive the correspondence regarding the Lund fire hall.
Latimer, in his correspondence, said it was his organization’s understanding that the new fire hall in the Lund area will be completed this summer and that the fire truck and other equipment will be moved to the new location.
“At that point, it will be the intention of the Northside Volunteer Fire Department to divest itself of its garage and the land it sits on at 9642 Larson Road,” stated Latimer. “It is our concern that this divestment from the property could impact community plans that are currently in motion.”
Latimer said Bike Lund, as part of the community society, is a volunteer-run cycling advocacy group and has been recycling and rebuilding bicycles for community members. He said it is in urgent need of space where it can fix bicycles and store tools and parts.
“The support of the qRD for this initiative would allow the group to continue its work and do much more,” stated Latimer.
