Dear Editor:

As the date for voting on the referendum for a new fire hall for the Town of Osoyoos draws closer, I want everyone to know why I will be voting ‘yes’  to the borrowing bylaw for a new fire hall.

For starters, the present fire hall is not up to the job.  It is more than 50 years old and it’s inadequate in many ways and lacks in size, capacity and location among others flaws.

Here is a list of several other reasons we need a new and modern fire hall in our town.

1. The new fire hall is more than a fire hall.  It’s an Emergency Operations Centre in the event of natural or environmental disasters like wildfires, floods, evacuations, etc.

2. It contains a number of “green building” elements to save power, energy and water and reduce operating costs.  This qualifies it for “gas tax” funding because of its environmental sustainability features.

3. It is a local training facility.  Our fire fighters will be able to practice some of their key training exercises like fighting natural gas fires, extraction of trapped motorists from vehicles, rescues from high buildings and refilling trucks with water from available sources near a fire scene. As a result, they’ll be safer and so will we.

4.  It has the support of our two other partners.  The OIB and the Rural Fire Department have both accepted their portion of the costs and the rural fire department has made a sizeable up-front grant of $250,000 to help reduce borrowing costs.

5. It is a bargain.  Did you figure out how much the new fire hall will cost you personally?  I did.  I will pay $54 a year.  That’s $1 a week!  I think that’s pretty inexpensive fire insurance.

Michael Ryan

Osoyoos, B.C.

Editor’s note: Michael Ryan has been a member of Town of Osoyoos council for the past six years and has been a vocal proponent of building a new fire hall for the Town of Osoyoos for some time. He announced two months ago he would not be seeking re-election in the November 15 municipal election. During his last regular meeting of council, Ryan once again voiced his strong support for the construction of a new fire hall and support of the borrowing bylaw in the November 15 referendum.