Fire Hall Planning Update
Since 2023, the City of Fernie has been working with a consultant to advance the pre-planning work for an urgently needed new Fire Hall to house the City’s Fire and Emergency Services Department. On Tuesday September 10, Council received the Final Planning Report from the City’s consultant on the Fire Hall Project and determined to move the project forward based on the recommendations in the report.
In January, an extensive engagement process and technical analysis of potential properties wrapped up with the selection of 1500 5th Ave (a portion of Prentice Park) as the site for the new Fire Hall.
Over the past months, the project team has worked alongside our consultants to refine the scope of the project, determine the requirements of a needs-based fire hall, and ensure that the conceptual design for the new facility is as cost-effective as possible while still meeting the needs of our Fire and Emergency Services department.
Based on urgent timelines for a new purpose-built fire hall, initial cost estimates, and a lack of available funding streams, Council provided updated direction to staff to prioritize building the Fire Hall first, while still providing space for a future co-use facility phased onto the site.
The report includes:
- A conceptual design for the new Fire Hall that captures all the functional requirements of the new facility to meet legislated and operational requirements of FFESD.
- A phased approach that prioritizes building the urgently needed Fire Hall first, while leaving room on the site to accommodate a future self-funded co-use building.
- A Class-D cost estimate that provides high-level costing for the recommended needs-based Fire Hall built to the legislated post-disaster standards with all the spatial requirements for the City’s emergency response.
- Funding options and considerations to help offset borrowing costs and finance this critically important new facility.
Read the full report here: https://fernie.civicweb.net/document/176598, and watch the presentation to Council at the Regular Meeting of Council online via Facebook.
Project Recap:
Why a New Fire Hall?
In 2022 our old fire hall on 3rd Ave., was decommissioned due to significant structural and operational issues with the facility that made it no longer appropriate to operate as a Fire Hall.
In summer 2023, a new project was initiated to advance a purpose-built Fire Hall for FFESD to be operational in 2026. This included a renewed approach to consider all possible City-owned locations, and an Expression of Interest to identify any privately owned properties or potential co-use partners to share the capital costs of the Fire Hall Build.
Should the City not advance the Fire Hall project there are significant costs and implications on service delivery and emergency response. These include:
1) Response times, safety for the community and insurance costs related to FUS ratings.
2) Increased wear and tear on vehicles and equipment due to improper storage and access routes.
3) Ongoing heightened risk of delays for primary responses due to rail crossings.
4) Significant costs to bring the operations facility and temporary buildings into compliance with with building code requirements including post-disaster standards.
5) Recruitment and retention challenges impacting the department resulting in increased overtime and loss of experienced staff.
What next:
As we wrap up the pre-planning stage, further action is required to continue advancing the project including:
1) Confirming the scope of the facility. The pre-planning report provides the opportunity for Council to understand work undertaken to confirm the building program required to support the service area. The scope as developed for the needs-based firehall also then informed the cost estimate that is provided for budgeting.
2) Determining the delivery method for refining design and construction of the project. This is the next important decision. The delivery method and where and how the design phase occurs will determine how quickly the cost estimates can be validated, if design-based savings can be achieved, and ultimately how construction is managed. Staff are currently engaged in discussions to develop a formal recommendation to Council.
3) Determining the final funding strategy and the use of reserves, potential land disposition, and borrowing. The appraisals and analysis of properties is recommended to support this step, as is further analysis of potential options including updates to DCC or ACC bylaws, and negotiations with the Regional District.
4) Advancing through a referendum process to initiate borrowing to fully fund the project. This process has been discussed previously, and a future report on funding will provide Council with the formal opportunity to set and advance the question on borrowing.
