No News on Ambulance Base

Jeff Green | Oct 20, 2011

No news is not necessarily bad news on ambulance base front

By Jeff Green

When the agenda came out for the Frontenac County Council meeting this week, it did not include any reference to the proposed joint ambulance base/fire station in Ompah.

A motion proposed by North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton at a county meeting in August was deferred until September for county staff to consider its implications after meeting with North Frontenac township staff.

That meeting did not take place before the September County Council meeting. Since the matter was still not on the October agenda, the News contacted North Frontenac Township Chief Administrative Officer Cheryl Robson to find out whether the meeting had taken place.

Robson said that a tele-conference took place last week, and progress was made.

Paul Charbonneau, the Chief of Paramedic Services for Frontenac County, will prepare an administrative report based on what was discussed at the meeting.

The report will go to the North Frontenac Council meeting on November 14 and the Frontenac County Council meeting on November 17.

“If everything works out, there is plenty of time to hire a project manager and put everything in place for construction next spring,” said Robson.

A motion was passed by Frontenac County Council in February of 2009, directing staff to develop plans for a joint fire-hall ambulance base in Ompah.

The project has been delayed ever since, as the county and the township have not been able to agree on a cost-sharing agreement for the construction and ongoing maintenance of a jointly owned, dual-purpose building.

(Frontenac County Council met on Wednesday, October 19, too late for a report to be included in this week’s Frontenac News.)