In a narrow vote council told administration to hold off on any proposed plans for fire station No. 1 until they can see how it fits into the city’s overall fiscal picture.
In a 4-3 vote councillors voted to hold off on the proposed modernization of the fire hall on Sir Winston Churchill Avenue until after a review of the 10-year capital budget later this spring.
Coun. Carol Watamaniuk put forward the motion and said she wants to know where that building fits in with all of the city’s major projects.
“There are so many capital projects on the plate and the fire hall is one of them and I think it is not going to cause that big of a problem to delay it until we have talked about all of the capital projects.”
Council currently has $500,000 budgeted in 2012 for design work to update the 47-year-old building. Another $5.6 million is proposed for construction in 2013.
Some work was done on the facility last year, but there are still several major issues with the building.
The facility can’t house much of the department’s equipment as it stands and has several other deficiencies.
Mayor Nolan Crouse also voted in favour of the delay and said even though no money was being spent, it is still important to look at the facility in the bigger picture.
“The motion was probably more symbolic than it was substance.”
He said there are a lot of big projects on the city’s radar and this is just one of them.
“There is always $100,000 here or there for a small project, but the really big ticket things — next future building, next future major infrastructure — we have to make sure we are planning for them.”
He said the review of the fire hall is necessary to see if it’s planned for the right time.
“We are going to decide if the future of the fire hall is the right place to be spending $6 million in the next three years or should that be four years or five years out.”
Councillors James Burrows Len Bracko and Lorrie Garritty voted against the motion.
Burrows said the facility has given many years to the community and there is no reason to delay its refurbishment.
