Five years after defeating a referendum to borrow money for a new fire hall, voters in Coldstream and Lavington will return to the ballot box on Nov.
18 for another fire protection referendum.Coldstream council is asking for public approval for a $4 million loan to pay for two new fire halls – one in Coldstream and another in Lavington – through a referendum ballot.In November 2001, voters defeated a referendum to borrow $1.5 million to build a new City Hall and fire hall in Coldstream, but 
Coldstream mayor Gary Corner said the circumstances are different this time.“Some who voted didn’t want the (City) Hall, some didn’t want the fire hall,” he said. “This is just really about fire protection so I think it’s a little bit different.”Coldstream fire chief Leo Lecavalier said the biggest problem with the existing fire hall is that there are not enough bays to store all of their equipment. He said all four bays are full currently and they need a fifth bay for a new pumper truck. There is funding set aside for the truck but Lecavalier said it’s been put on hold because it is too tall to fit in the fire hall.“This piece of apparatus is required for fire protection but there isn’t a bay for it,” he said.The Coldstream Fire Hall was completed around 1960 and has undergone several upgrades. The building is barely large enough for their equipment and Coldstream firefighters hold meetings in a trailer behind the building because there’s no room to meet inside, Lecavalier said.The new fire hall would include a kitchen, some offices, a meeting space and enough storage should the fire hall increase from the current 27 volunteers to 40. Lecavalier said the new fire hall will be large enough to serve the community’s needs for decades.“We’ve put in a lot of effort and thought to make sure we get the best bang for our buck,” he said. “With the new building I can’t see in 80 years that it wouldn’t still service our needs.”When the referendum was defeated in 2001 Coldstream built the municipal hall using existing funds. Corner said the district already had enough money for the hall they simply were hoping for additional money to pay for a fire hall as well.In this latest referendum, however, Corner said that if the municipality loses the referendum, they won’t build the new fire halls.“Fire halls are a different issue,” he said. “If the community doesn’t want them we’ll have to look at our options if the referendum doesn’t pass.”In the 2001 referendum, the loan for the fire hall and municipal hall was defeated by a margin of just 19 votes. Although Coldstream residents voted in favour of the loan 584-571, Lavington residents proved to be the difference by voting 142-95 against.Two public fire hall information sessions will take place before the referendum. The first session will take place on Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Coldstream Municipal Hall. A second one will be hosted at the Lavington Fire Hall from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 7.
1 comment:
If this ref does not pass what will Corner do this time?
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