The Town of Osoyoos sign the agreement for construction of the new fire hall on Monday. Seated from left are Barry Romanko, town CAO; Matt Kenyon, general manager of Greyback Construction; and Sue McKortoff, Osoyoos mayor. Standing is Rick Jones, fire chief. (Richard McGuire photo)
After close to a full decade of discussion, planning and politics, the new fire hall for the Town of Osoyoos is now under construction.
Representatives from the town and the winning contractor, Greyback Construction from Penticton, gathered at town hall Monday afternoon to formally sign the contract to build the new Osoyoos fire hall.
Greyback Construction was announced as the successful bidder three weeks ago during an official groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the new hall, which will be located on 74th Avenue, about 300 metres west of Hwy. 97.
Earlier on Monday, council unanimously approved a slightly amended contract with Greyback, which saw the total amount reduced by just over $45,000 to $5,644,150.33.
It has been more than nine years since a new fire hall for Osoyoos was first discussed at the council table.
Rick Jones, Fire Chief for the Osoyoos Fire Department all of those years, was on hand for Monday’s contract signing.
A consultant’s report released back in 2007 recommended that a new fire hall was needed in Osoyoos as the current one on Main Street didn’t meet numerous Work Safe BC regulations and was deemed too small and congested to be an effective fire hall.
In the fall of 2013, former mayor Stu Wells and the council of the day voted to hold a referendum over whether or not to borrow close to $6 million to build a new fire hall.
However, in July of 2014, council changed its mind about holding a referendum and decided to proceed with borrowing money through an “Alternate Approval Process” (AAP), which meant the town would borrow the money unless 10 per cent of registered voters signed a petition against the move.
That’s exactly what happened.
More than 1,000 local residents petitioned against the AAP decision and council was left with no other course but to hold a referendum. It was decided the referendum would be held in conjunction with last November’s municipal election.
Close to 65 per cent of registered voters ended up voting in favour of building a new fire hall and borrowing the money, which will be repaid through a monthly levy on local property bills over the next 20 years.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, current Mayor Sue McKortoff said construction should take approximately one year and she is very much looking forward to the grand opening of the new fire hall in November of 2016.
Before Monday’s contract signing, McKortoff said the opening of a new fire hall is something badly needed in this community and she’s excited that construction is underway.
“We have spent a great deal of time on the ramifications leading to this contract,” she said. “Quite frankly, I’m convinced we are at the right place … and we all (mayor and council) feel very comfortable this is the right way to go on this.”
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
