Burk's Falls, Armour and Ryerson could see their fire department and ambulance operate under one roof in a new building by 2026.
Potentially the new fire hall/ambulance building could be located in Armour Township.
Both emergency services currently operate out of separate buildings with the fire hall on Ontario Street and the Parry Sound EMS only a couple of blocks away on Main Street beside the health centre.
Both buildings are old and over the years there have been discussions about operating from a new site.
The push for a new facility took a big step forward in May when the three municipalities learned EMS was interested in partnering with the fire hall at a potential new site.
Ryerson Township took the lead and talked to EMS about what it requires.
The township's treasurer, Brayden Robinson, put together a three-page report which was presented to members of all three town councils in late October.
Robinson's report states that, with some minor modifications, the Powassan Fire Hall should be the model for the new build.
The Powassan Fire Hall is an 11,000-square-foot building that has three drive-through bays for its fire vehicles plus 2,800 square feet of office space.
The report indicates that Parry Sound EMS would operate from an entirely separate space from the fire department and would need to be outfitted with a three-bay garage plus about 1,200 square feet of administration space.
Additionally, EMS would sign a 30-year lease to operate from the new site.
Ryerson's engineer has estimated that the new fire hall would cost $6 million with EMS covering $2.3 million of that amount.
The remaining $3.7 million would be cost shared by the three municipalities with Armour absorbing the lion's share at $1.77 million, Burk's Falls would pay close to $1.1 million and Ryerson would cover about $870,000.
With Ryerson taking the lead, the report states it “will aggressively seek any grant funding that is available to help offset construction cost”.
The municipality has been talking to the Ministry of Transportation about buying a strip of land it owns and the hope is that the purchase can be finalized during 2024. If the MTO agrees to sell the land, the project would enter the preliminary design stage during the spring of 2024 with the goal of completing the design by the winter so that the project can be tendered in time for a spring 2025 construction start date.
The report calls for the building to be ready for occupancy during the fall of 2026.
Technically for the project to keep moving ahead, the three municipalities have to agree to the new facility as a tri-council group and then again as individual councils.
Voting for these approvals at the different levels is expected to take place early in 2024.
The municipalities also have to create a partnership agreement with Parry Sound EMS and all three town councils have to be on board with the final design of the facility.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the North Bay Nugget. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
