North Frontenac Council - Oct. 28/10

Jeff Green | Nov 04, 2010

Saga of Ompah fire station/ambulance base continues

At their meeting last week, on October 28, North Frontenac Council again addressed the Ompah Fire Hall/ambulance base issue, which has been the subject of a back and forth debate with Frontenac County in recent weeks.

Mayor Maguire described how members of Frontenac County Council had shown support for the county staff's position that the project should be built using the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building standards points system, and should make use of a project manager.

County council did not go so far as to make any recommendation about the issue, leaving North Frontenac Township and county staff to continue working on the details.

And the details are daunting.

The township has put $300,000 into a reserve fund for the project, and based on an estimated cost of $80 per square foot they thought they would be able to cover their own share of the project costs.

However Frontenac County staff estimate the project costs at $172 per square foot for construction alone. With extra costs for LEED upgrades and project management, the cost will likely reach $200 per square foot.

This costing, according to Frontenac County Emergency Services Manager Paul Charbonneau, is based on the costs the county is incurring right now as they build an ambulance base in Sydenham.

For the township to do this within the current budget they would have to limit the fire hall portion of the project to 1,500 square feet, roughly 1/3 of the size that the Ompah fire department says they need.

Councilor Wayne Good said, “I now think the only solution for us right now is to consider building the fire hall in stages, so we can limit our costs and raise money to finish the building off in a couple of years when we have the money.”

Fire Chief Steve Riddell was in attendance at the meeting, and he did not express an opinion about Good's multi-stage building proposal. He said it would have to be brought before the Ompah fire crew, and a meeting with the fire crew and the three members of North Frontenac Council who were re-elected, Wayne Good, Fred Perry and Lonnie Watkins, as well as Township Chief Administrative Officer Cheryl Robson, will take place tonight (November 4) in Ompah.

In the meantime the township passed a motion to accept the county’s insistence on LEED standards and project management, and ask the county to keep in place the $300,000 that they have committed to the project, so that the details can be worked out over the winter.

Other items from North Frontenac:

CAMPING FEES TO GO UP – Fees for campsites managed by the township under the Crown Land Stewardship program are going up. Corey Klatt, who manages the program for the township, reported that the Crown Land Stewardship Program “has enjoyed continuous success throughout the past few years and I have been reluctant to suggest any increase in fees, but with the HST we have no choice now.”

Klatt recommended that camping passes go from $20 to $22 a day (for up to six campers), and from $15 to $17 a day for non-profit groups, and from $20 to $22 for a weekly road permit.

“Were the numbers for the program up again this year?” Councilor Perry asked Corey Klatt.

“They were up early in the season but I don't have the final numbers yet,” Klatt said.

The website that books sites and road permits for the program will stay open year round from now on, even though the township renews its land use permit with the province on an annual basis. Further information is available at Northfrontenacparklands.ca