A new fire hall for Sidney moved a step closer this week after a $10-million borrowing plan was narrowly approved by the municipal council.
The 4-3 vote directed staff to prepare a bylaw that would permit the borrowing. If all goes smoothly, the bylaw could be passed in 30 to 60 days, Mayor Steve Price said Tuesday.
Price hopes construction on the site, south of the Mary Winspear Centre, will start within two to three months. “We can move pretty quickly.”
Designed by Bradley Shuya Architect, the 26,000-square-foot building will also include an emergency communications centre and a B.C. Ambulance station.
The project has been in the works for years. Sidney’s volunteer firefighters are based in a cramped 1989 building that could crumble if even a mild earthquake occurred.
The town’s positive fiscal situation allows it to borrow the money without having to hold a referendum, Price said.
This route permits Sidney to move promptly at a time when construction costs are climbing, Price said. He fears that a wait could cause construction costs to rise by $1 million or more.
The plan is to approve $10 million in borrowing. But the building’s construction costs will likely run closer to $8 million to $9 million, he said.
Some of that — an estimated $4 million to $5 million — would be offset by selling the current fire hall site, Price said. There’s already been interest from potential buyers. That means the actual loan for the new structure would be closer to $4 million to $5 million, he said.
Another plus is that lease payments will come in from the B.C. Ambulance Service, he said.
Council’s debate this week was about the best way to finance the building. The borrowing bylaw was backed by Price and councillors Tim Chad, Mervyn Lougher-Goodey and Cam McLennan.
Councillors Erin Bremner-Mitchell, Barbara Fallot and Peter Wainwright favoured an alternative approval process, permitted under B.C.’s Community Charter.
This alternative process helps determine public opinion and is not as costly as staging a referendum, another option.
Under the alternative process, more than 10 per cent of electors — about 900, in this case — need to register their opposition to a project. If that happens, council then has to decide if it wants to go ahead with a proposal by calling a referendum.
As well as the new bylaw, a rezoning is required for the site.
