The community of Ste.Agathe is getting a fire hall.
A pair of volunteer firefighter recruitment information sessions were held in Ste.Agathe this last winter to gauge interest from the public. And, Mitch Duval, Chief Administrative Officer for the Rural Municipality of Ritchot says the decision has now been made to proceed.
Duval says they are looking at a budget of about $2 million for the entire project. This includes construction of the fire hall, the purchase of equipment and materials for the department and then the necessary training. But Duval says once they have more firm numbers they will go back to the public with a more concrete financial plan. He notes there will be public consultations and public hearings as the municipality is looking at a debenture to pay off this project.
Right now the municipality is looking to form a team of 15 volunteer firefighters. Duval says they have at least 20 applications.
"The fire department will be tasked with trying to select the fifteen to move ahead," says Duval.
According to Duval, a site for the new hall has not been finalized, though right now the proposed area is north of Provincial Road 305 and east of Highway 75. The land is located near the water distribution plant in that community. The goal is to break ground on the building before freeze-up this fall and have it functional some time in 2017.
Duval says Ritchot has performed building condition assessments on the municipality's other two halls in St.Adolphe and Ile des Chenes. The purpose was to find out what shape these buildings are in and their functionality.
"As a result of those studies we do realize that the Ile des Chenes hall will require a significant amount of work to be done over the next five to ten years," says Duval.
He notes they will keep this in mind as they move ahead with the hall in Ste.Agathe. Duval says one of the ideas is that the Ile des Chenes hall becomes a training hub for future firefighting.
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Fri, Apr 26, 1:00 PM
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