Neighbours of the new Fire Hall No. 4 have been invited to a city meeting to have their questions answered.
The meeting about the new hall will be held on June 25, from 6-8 p.m. at Kanaka Creek elementary school (11120 234A St.)
“The intent of this public meeting is to seek input from the area residents on the proposed amendments and address any questions that may arise,” said a city press release. “This is not a public hearing notice.”
Fire Chief Howard Exner said the public will be able to look at conceptual drawings and ask questions about the new $15 million hall to be built at 11240 238th St. Details about the project will be offered, and city officials and project consultants will be on hand to answer questions.
The new fire hall and training centre would be located near 112th Avenue and 240th Street, and would serve the fast-growing east Maple Ridge area. The hall would be staffed by paid-on-call firefighters. In 2016, 14 per cent of the total calls for fire department service, and about 22 per cent of the structure fire calls, came from the Albion area. The area now accounts for some 600 calls per year.
Exner said it will also be a centralized training facility, with training grounds and practice props. The advantage of the site, compared with the Justice Institute campus on 256th Street, will be in its closer proximity to the downtown core, for faster response times if firefighters are dispatched to a call during training.
The city has about $8.6 million in reserves for the new hall, and the balance would need to be borrowed.
Designs for the project are to be completed next month.
