The Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury is getting a new fire station — at a fraction of the cost originally expected for the project.
Council endorsed a plan to build a new fire station on the town-owned vacant land beside the existing facility, and repurpose the old station to house the town’s public works and transportation staff, who are currently crammed into an aging building at the back of the site.
The Town had originally set aside $9.4 million for a new fire station in Bradford, and estimated the cost of a new Joint Operations Centre for Public Works at $31 million.
Under the new plan, a fire station will cost $6.4 million, and the operations centre will cost $5.1 million.
“It’s a pretty ambitious objective, but we need to have a document like this to get things started,” town CAO Geoff McKnight told council April 17, suggesting the town could continue possibly redeveloping sites for multiple uses instead of for stand-alone facilities.
“This in itself is not committing you to new spending,” he said, but is a commitment to “maximize the assets we have now (and) maximize the future utility of the buildings of the future.”
After the meeting, McKnight added the goal is to provide facilities at a reduced cost.
“As we move forward with a more detailed review of each major piece, we will definitely look at opportunities to consolidate facilities.
The consolidation effort should reduce capital costs and the eventual operating costs,” he said.
The town has known for years its current Melbourne Drive fire station is inadequate — undersized for the amount of equipment and firefighters required by a growing community.
The station is 892 square metres, but a master plan study concluded the fire service needs 1,765 square metres in Bradford.
For the past year, Bradford’s Fire and Emergency Services has been investigating possible locations for a new fire hall. Three greenfield sites were identified, but none of the property owners were willing to negotiate a sale, and the cost of land alone was estimated between $3 million and $4.5 million.
The high cost and lack of a willing vendor is what led to the latest alternate proposal.
Under the new plan, the operations centre cost will include $2.1 million to improve storage at its Line 11 administration building, and $3 million to renovate the Melbourne Drive location to accommodate staff.
The proposal was part of a multi-year facilities program that addresses Bradford’s remaining infrastructure needs, which include not only a new fire station, but a second fire station to serve the Highway 400 employment lands and community of Bond Head by 2022, at a cost $4.4 million, and a consolidated administration centre, at a cost of $35 million, to house staff currently working in 10 different locations, at eight different sites.
Other projects include:
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Operations Centre in Bond Head ($3 million)
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Redevelopment of the Bradford & District Memorial Community Centre ($15 million)
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New performing arts centre ($8 million)
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Renovation of the old Bradford High School ($5 million).
The total price tag for all projects came to $85 million, offset in part by the sale of surplus properties, such as St. Mary’s Hall and the historic treasury building on Holland Street East.
While some of the funding will come from development charges levied on new development, the report submitted to town council recognized a tax impact relating to long-term debt — carrying charges that could be $3 million per year for the administration centre alone.
Staff suggested a tax increase of $428,571 per year from 2019 to 2026 on the operating tax levy to cover those charges, but council did not approve any increases.
“It’s a starting point for us,” said Deputy Mayor James Leduc. “Future councils will have to deal with all this. ... I think there’s a very moving target.”
McKnight added that while the first 892 square metres of the new fire station is a “replacement” of the existing station, the additional area is “growth-related and development charge fundable.”
“I like the plan for the fire station,” said Mayor Rob Keffer. However, he opposed another recommendation an ambulance station be co-located at the new fire hall.
A separate location could provide a better response to medical calls, he suggested.
Keffer pointed out the County of Simcoe, which is responsible for emergency medical service, has purchased land in other municipalities for stand-alone ambulance facilities, and so he objected to handing over municipal land for an ambulance centre either on Melbourne Drive or at the Bradford Community Centre.
“We might need that location for our own future needs,” he said.
