Members of the Whitney Volunteer Fire Department will very likely be based at a brand new facility next year. A move that could cause a three-percent increase on 2017 tax bills according to one councillor.
During an in-camera session on Monday afternoon, council voted to commit $2 million towards a new building on the campus of Northern College. Shovels are expected to break ground sometime in the spring.
An integrated services building will be constructed where a soccer field currently sits across from the Porcupine Mall. It will provide a new facility for paramedic and firefighting students to work closely with an active station.
Councillor Rick Dubeau, who was one of the councillors voting against the motion, and a retired firefighter, said the decision will negatively impact the volunteer firefighter system. As that portion of Monday's meeting was in-camera, there is no public record of the discussion, and no documents regarding the commitment have been made public as of yet. Dubeau said the decision will add a three percent increase in city taxes in 2017.
"All of our staff have told us this is not a good idea. Then all of a sudden, we just pass this at a lunchtime meeting, and nobody gets to see why, nobody gets to understand where everyone's position is on this, and why they justify this cost going forward," said Dubeau to reporters after the meeting.
The idea for the facility is not a new one. It was quashed by council last year during budget deliberations. Dubeau said that the Whitney volunteers and South Porcupine volunteer firefighters have outright refused to amalgamate, which he said would be the only way the city would save dollars on the decision. The new building is expected to cost more than $8 million in total.
"Northern College came back with a different proposal. With staff, they approached the Whitney Volunteers to see if they would be willing to move into this new integrated services building, but not amalgamate with South Porcupine. The Whitney Volunteers agreed to do so," he said.
Mayor Steve Black said that Northern College recently received 'significant dollars from the provincial and federal government' to go ahead with the facility.
"There's been some negotiations back and forth on different arrangements of how that deal would potentially look going forward, and today council gave direction to staff to go ahead and proceed with the agreement, up to a maximum $2 million dollar contribution to the facility from the City of Timmins. In kind of a condo-style arrangement, where there'd be a shared cost of some of the services," he said.
The new building would house classrooms and facilities for the paramedic and firefighter programs, as well as two ambulance bays, and three bays for the Whitney Fire Department.
"Our hall is in perfectly good shape, there's nothing wrong with it," Dubeau said, noting that there will be two fire halls approximately one kilometre from each other.
"Like I say, all of our staff were against it, and then we just passed this, which was a stunner. I don't know what happened there," he said.
Voting against were Dubeau, Joe Campbell and Noella Rinaldo. In favor, were Councillors Pat Bamford, Mike Doody, Walter Wawrzaszek, Andrew Marks, and Mayor Steve Black. There was one less vote, due to the absence of Andre Grzela.
"There was a couple of people who changed their minds from half an hour ago," said Dubeau, who was irked by the ongoing trend of council members changing their minds without explanation.
"The public needs to be informed as to how each member of council voted, and why they voted that way. They have a right to know. Quite often they're just silent. They should be speaking up. If you're going to vote for it, tell us why," said Dubeau.
CAO Joe Torlone confirmed that the lease agreement with Northern College will have to be passed by council as a bylaw at an upcoming meeting.
"It's a great deal for the college, but its not a good deal for the city. And our Treasurer (Jim Howie) told us that in no uncertain terms. This makes no financial sense. Those were his words," said Dubeau.
Black said Howie will be bringing a report back to council in the near future which will outline where the $2 million dollars will come from.
