Fernie city council has decided to not relocate the site of the new fire hall to a property at 902 2nd Avenue.
Last regular council meeting, council directed staff to prepare a report on the implications of moving the fire hall site away from the Prentice Park location.
That location has been met with a lot of backlash from members of the community.
The original site was chosen due to its proximity to the highway, possibility of future co-use and no known site contamination.
The site at 902 2nd Avenue is not big enough for future co-use, a sizable percentage of calls would require driving through the downtown core and there are potential contaminants due to the nearby train tracks that would require remediation.
Councillor Kyle Hamilton said every possible site will be met with opposition.
“I don’t think we will ever find a perfect site where everybody in the community is happy. We went through an extremely thorough process,” he said.
He said the site selection process was thorough and the public’s concerns were weighed.
“I don’t know what we could have done for more public outreach earlier in the process. I’m sure people are already hammering posts and comments online about where they think we could have, but at the end of the day we are elected to make tough decisions and we need to build a new fire hall. The longer we wait the more expensive it’s going to be.”
Changing the site now would also ensure that the city misses out on a $7 million grant and would further delay the project which has been needed for almost 50 years.
Councillor Troy Nixon said park space is important, but some things, like a fire hall, are more important.
“We have four ball diamonds but zero fire halls. If you list every service the city provides, in my books fire comes at number three right after water and wastewater,” he said.
“Parks and recreation matter, they really do, but they do not rank above life and safety.”
All members of council voted against the motion to relocate the fire hall to 902 2nd Street.
Mayor Nic Milligan said they can’t keep dragging this out.
“The responsible thing to do is to deal with these issues,” he said.
“I take great pride in being a responsible individual and I appreciate the passion that people bring to this, but it is time for a decision and anything else just deepens the division in the community and that’s not fair to anyone.”
If the city is successful in getting the grant funds, the city would only be on the hook for $3.6 million.
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