Fernie is one step closer to a new fire hall with a loan authorization bylaw given three readings.
If the bylaw is approved, the city would borrow the money needed for the firehall project and no referendum would be held.
The estimated project cost is $16 million.
The city will be applying to the Canada Community Building Fund with hopes of securing $7 million to support the project.
If the grant is successful, $4 million would come from the city’s reserves, $1.4 million from the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) and $3.5 million would need to be borrowed to fund the rest.
If the grant is not successful, the borrowing amount would jump to $12 million.
Mayor Nic Milligan said it’s about time that they move ahead with a new firehall.
“Forty-six years ago the fire department moved out of a building into a temporary location at a repurposed tire shop that served us until 2022. It was temporary for that entire time and nobody did anything about it,” he said.
“When someone says we’re between a rock and a hard place I don’t see it that way at all. There is a window of opportunity that is open to this community that sees us potentially only having to borrow $3.6 million to construct a fully functional, multi generational firehall.”
The city is hoping to have construction start in the spring of 2026 and have the fire hall up and running in 2027.
More information on the project can be found here.
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