| Jul 18, 2013


North Frontenac will be getting an ambulance base after all, although not in the location that many had originally hoped for.

In a report to Frontenac County Council, Chief of Paramedic Services Paul Charbonneau confirmed that all conditions have been waived and the County will be purchasing a lot located at Road 509 and Robertsville Road for $20,000. An ambulance post will be constructed on that lot, for use by a 12-hour ambulance that is currently housed at the North Frontenac township garage at Lavant station, 15 or so kilometres to the north-west.

The location fits within the recommended location for a northern base that was included in a report by the IBI group of consultants several years ago. The IBI report said that a location in the vicinity of the Ardoch Road and Road 509 would serve both the population in east and central North Frontenac while being close enough to Highway 7 to respond to traffic accidents in the Wemyss to Arden corridor.

Politicians from North Frontenac, noting that the Ardoch Road/Road 509 junction is located in Central Frontenac, and that response times in the Ompah area would be slower once a base was moved to the south, objected to the IBI recommendation.

An alternate plan, which would have seen a base in the village of Ompah in conjunction with a new fire hall and the relocating of the Parham base to a location in Sharbot Lake, was chosen over the IBI recommendation. When the joint project between Frontenac County and North Frontenac fell apart last year over costing, Frontenac Paramedic Services reverted to Plan A.

The location on Road 509 at Roberstville Road is about 2 kilometres north of the Ardoch Road, but it is located in North Frontenac, about 200 metres from the border with Central Frontenac.

It is also located right across the road from the former Robertsville mine, which was the site of an occupation against uranium exploration in the summer of 2007.

An agreement to purchase was signed on May 1, subject to a hydro-geological study demonstrating there is enough potable water on the site, an environmental site assessment and a geo-technical study. Those studies have been completed, at the cost of the County, and the purchase is going through.

The timeframe for the construction of the base has not been announced, but the construction cost is included in the 2013 Frontenac County budget. Money for the construction has been held in a dedicated reserve fund by the county for some years. 

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