Feature article December 2, 2004
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Fire Hall plan gets warm reception from North Frontenac Council
by Jeff Green
A task force looking at future options to house the Clarendon and Miller Fire Department has recommended moving the fire station to the old MNR site on Buckshot Lake Road at Plevna at an estimated cost of $300,000.
The cost to the township will be less than that, since the Clar/Mil firefighters and Ladies Auxiliary have built up a $100,000 pot of money for the project through fundraising efforts over the past 15 years.
The task force was established in September, and includes members of Council, along with the Fire Chief Cor Bakelaar, Gertie MacDonald from the Fire Ladies Auxiliary, resident Ted Wilkinson, and others.
The first thing the task force did was consider the deficiencies of the current fire hall, which is attached to the township administrative building between Ardoch and Plevna. Lack of potable water on site, no toilets, shower, laundry or equipment washing facilities were noted, as were inadequate heat, lights, ventilation, meeting and training space.
Three possible options were highlighted in a report to council, which was presented at last weeks regular Council meeting by Ted Wilkinson, a retiree in the area who has done project management during his professional career.
One option considered was to renovate the current space and build an additional 2400 sq. ft. building on site. Wilkinson said, The water problems will remain a concern. Two wells have already been dug and there is no reason to believe a third would yield potable water. As to the cost of renovating, he said The engineering challenges facing the renovation portion are considered to be very high risk and nobody has been found, to date, who is willing to give an accurate estimate. A guess on costs would be $161,000 to $184,000 for the vehicle building and probably in the area of $150,000 for the renovation, for a total of $311,000 to $344,000, with no site development costs included.
The other two options presented by the task force both involve building at the former MNR site on Buckshot Lake road. The easiest to estimate is the option to tear down the existing MNR building and low garage and build a new fire hall, (4600 sq. feet) at an estimated cost of $322,000 to $368,000, with a further $50,000 budget for septic, water, hydro, etc. the task force report says.
The third option, and the one recommended by the task force, would be to renovate and extend the existing buildings at the Buckshot Lake road site, at an estimated cost of $205,000.
In addition there will be expenses for draughting/engineering, contingency funds, furnishings and landscaping, including paving, for an added cost of $95,000, said Ted Wilkinson.
Wilkinson noted several factors that favour the Buckshot Lake Road site. A major advantage is that the site has potable water, an approved septic system, hydro service, and hose drying racks, and Wilkinson also said that at first glance the existing buildings can be built onto to make a suitable fire hall and office space.
The site is also within 3.3 km of the current site and is considered suitable in relation to Fire Station Location guidelines issued by the Ontario Fire Marshalls office.
While the township could purchase land for a new site, Wilkinson told the News that once they began looking at the Buckshot Lake Road site and the existing buildings on it, I came to the conclusion that someone would have to show us why we shouldnt use this site; it has so many advantages.
The final recommendations of the Task Force are that Council give preliminary project approval to the construction for a new fire hall at 6648 Buckshot Lake Road at a total estimated cost of $300,000, and that necessary planning and design work be undertaken.
Councillors responded positively to the recommendations, and Mayor Maguire suggested that the project would require somewhere between $12,000 and $24,000 to be brought through the engineering and design stage. In considering how to move forward, Councillor Bud Clayton brought up the question of the status of the township office itself. If the current location is not suitable for the Fire Hall, its not suitable for our administrative staff either, he said, and I would like to see a proposal that involves building proper administrative offices for the township on the new site as well. But I dont want things to be delayed, Id like to see ground broken on this project in the spring.
None of the other councillors on hand disagreed with Clayton, but they did not want to commit to building a new township office, especially since councillors Hook, Cybulski, and Smith were not at the meeting.
A motion was prepared that received the report and committed Council to moving forward without specifying the exact nature of the final project. This was done to ensure Bud Clayton would support the motion because with three councillors being absent, all four members of Council who were present had to agree for any motion to be passed at this particular meeting.
It is not entirely clear how this matter will proceed, but Ted Wilkinson said he expects that a meeting of the task force will soon be called by Fire Chief Bakelaar.
