After community backlash around the current site plan for a new firehall, Fernie council will hear the implications of relocating the site to 902 2nd Avenue.
The current site plan would see a reduction of the green space at Prentice Park, which has been met with opposition.
Another factor for the opposition is due to no referendum being held for the borrowing of funds.
The city is wanting to apply for a UBCM grant for $7 million which would greatly decrease the cost of the project.
Along with other funding shored up, if the grant is successful the city would only be on the hook for $3.6 million.
Mayor Nic Milligan said they are now in this predicament due to past council wariness to spend money on needed projects.
“This community can do better and a repurposed tire shop was a functional facility but it was the wrong facility and it was the wrong facility for a long time. We don’t have to look very far in this community to find facilities that have just been let go and run down to failure,” he said.
“Unfortunately we, this council, is reaping the benefits of that. We had to close our community center which was another incredibly unpopular decision. Do you think we wanted to do that? That’s what happens when people don’t pay attention to the facilities that they have and are consistently afraid to spend money, because money means raising taxes.”
However, the grant application deadline ends well before when a referendum could take place.
Numerous residents spoke in Tuesday’s council meeting on their opposition to the location and that their voices were not being heard.
Council decided to ask staff to prepare a report on the impacts moving the project to the site at 902 2nd Avenue would have.
That site was one of the potential options back when original site selection took place.
Staff said one of the impacts would be most likely losing the grant funding, putting higher costs on the tax payer.
Councilor Kevin McIsaac feels that choosing a new location now will just lead to different community groups being upset.
“We heard feedback from both groups before and went through the pros and cons and made a decision,” he said.
“Now we’ve heard from another group that wasn’t happy. Will we change our mind again if we go to 902 and the people who were concerned with 902 come forward. How many times will we go back and forth?”
A clearer picture on the future of the firehall project should come from next weeks special council meeting, but Milligan says it’s important that residents are respectful.
Heckling and jeering from the gallery was a common occurrence during Tuesday’s meeting.
“I get that folks want a voice, but through a confluence of events we find ourselves where we choose to have a referendum and give away $7 million, or we choose not too and make a whole lot of people unhappy,” he added.
Milligan said its a truly difficult decision for council to make and encourages residents to run for office themselves.
“I would invite every one of you to run for these seats next year because these are the decisions you’ll be faced with. If you don’t have the courage to make difficult decisions don’t even consider it,” he said.
“None of this is easy. Be respectful, because this is not an easy chair to sit in and I would ask every one of you to give it a go if you think it is.”
The special council meeting to discuss the site implications will go ahead on Aug. 19 at 6:30 p.m.
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