They say good things come to those who wait and that patience is a virtue.
Anyone who knows Rick Jones will agree he’s a very good man and as the fire chief with the Osoyoos Fire Department for many years, he’s most certainly shown patience is one of his greatest virtues.
He’s had to show immense patience for many years as his dream of a new fire hall in our town hit snag after snag for close to a decade.
Jones first signed on as a volunteer with the local fire department more than 34 years ago.
He has been the fire chief for the past nine years.
For close to a decade, Jones has been leading the charge to do everything in his power to work towards the Town of Osoyoos getting a new fire hall.
Jones, along with deputy fire chief Bill Roque and longtime volunteer Blake Ogilvy put in an extraordinary amount of hours putting together a proposal stating why a new fire hall was so badly needed in this community.
Under former mayor Stu Wells and the previous town council, which included current Mayor Sue McKortoff, that plan was finally adopted in early 2014.
Local residents voted overwhelmingly in favour of borrowing $5.9 million – which will be repaid over the next 20 years with a small levy on local property tax bills – to pay for the new Osoyoos fire hall during a referendum held as part of last November’s municipal election.
On Monday afternoon, McKortoff and Jones were joined by fellow town councillors and close to 20 volunteer firefighters for an official groundbreaking for the new fire hall, which will be built on 74th Avenue, 200 metres west of Hwy. 97.
Greyback Construction Ltd. from Penticton has been awarded the $5.7 million tender to complete construction, with crews expected to begin work this week.
After years of hard work, Jones couldn’t hide his smile knowing that construction on the new fire hall will begin this week.
Construction is expected to take approximately one year, with the grand opening expected to take place some time next November.
The current fire hall on Main Street adjacent to town hall simply doesn’t meet the requirements for our growing community, said Jones.
Not only does the current building fall short of Worksafe B.C. regulations in many areas, but it’s actually dangerous for current firefighters because the working area is so cramped and congested.
Jones acknowledged on Monday that he has had to be a very patient man over the past several years as the wheels of government turn very slowly when it comes to major projects like this in small towns like Osoyoos.
McKortoff said talks to build a new fire hall in our community date back more than a decade.
She credited Jones, Roque and Ogilvy for being unsung heroes for putting in so much time and effort to make the dream of a new fire hall a reality.
The new fire hall will not only be state-of-the-art, but will also feature a new training centre, which is sure to attract new volunteer recruits for many years to come. This new fire hall will ensure quality firefighting services will be part of this community for decades to come. We congratulate Jones and his department on a job well done and we all look forward to the grand opening a year from now.
As local firefighters clearly showed during this past summer’s dangerous wildfires, Osoyoos has world-class firefighters and they deserve to work out of a world-class fire hall.
