Prince Edward County revises fire station plans

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

by JOE CALLAHAN

Prince Edward County might be seeing a reduction in the number of fire stations it currently has, but its council has opted not to proceed with a controversial proposal that would have closed a fire station that served a rural area and established another on prime agricultural land.

Over the summer, county council has approved a 10 fire station plan for the future of fire fighting in the county, a reduction from the upper tier municipality’s current holdings of 12 stations.

The plan will see the construction of a new fire station in Consecon to replace one currently in the village itself and to replace another in nearby Hillier. County council approved the construction of the Consecon station at its August 26 meeting at a cost of $1,285, 500.00 plus HST. Fire Chief Scott Manlow estimates that the new four-bay station will be ready by mid-February 2015.

In July, county council authorized staff to proceed with a site evaluation, design and tender for the construction of a new eight-bay fire station (four double bays) on McDonald Drive in Picton’s industrial park. This fire station will replace one at Picton Heights and the one on Ross Street. Council also authorized the integration of a four-bay Picton ambulance base at the new site.

The ten-station plan replaces a nine-station plan that would have seen the closure of a rural fire station on Mallory Road and the nine-station plan included consideration for the construction of a fire station at the traffic circle on the west side of Picton on prime agricultural land. As reported by Better Farming last year, the closure of small rural stations and the idea of using prime agricultural land for a new station met with strong resistance from some farmers, including long-time farmer and volunteer fire fighter, Don Williams. But Williams is satisfied with the new plan.

“A lot of stuff has happened like we suggested at the start,” said Williams. “It’s (the current plan) about as close to perfect for the way we want it as possible.”

Estimates for the construction of the new station in the industrial park should be available for council’s consideration by mid-2015 said Manlow, and plans are for the new facility to be in place by September 2016. BF