Council has agreed to hold off on spending $185,000 for proposed renovations at the fire hall, pending the results of a study to be released in the new year.
NNSL file photo
The public safety division is proposing upgrades to the fire hall that would see its single-use main floor bathroom expanded into a multi-use bathroom that would allow for multiple showers.
Given that the municipality is planning a fire hall study to be presented early in the new year, council decided to hold off on spending the money until there is more clarity on the study's recommended direction for fire service.
“We have a copy of the study now. We're doing preliminary analysis in-house (before going to council for review)," said senior administrative officer Sheila Bassi-Kellett.
She added that there are numerous options for the city's future fire service, all of which would require “significant planning.” Among those options could include demolishing and building a new fire hall, expanding the existing building or having a second fire hall elsewhere in Yellowknife.
None of the options are expected to result in related construction starting in the near-term, Bassi-Kellett added.
In October, public safety director Eric Bussey and deputy fire chief Craig Maclean told NNSL Media that the 30-year-old fire hall has pretty much met its life expectancy and that firefighting staff has roughly doubled over that period.
This has led to the need for the extra space, as well as other minor upgrades, such as $66,000 for expanded air and power hose systems to fire vehicles.
On Monday, Bussey reiterated the need for the added shower space, particularly as there are now eight firefighters on a given shift with two showers on site.
Much of the detail for an expansion would be up to an architect's study, he added.
"After a large fire, it's a challenge for firefighters to be able to return and clean and this will hopefully double our capacity on the short-term basis," Bussey said. "The ultimate plan is to look at the fire hall itself, though there's bigger questions and it will take time to implement.
Council was skeptical of the bathroom renovation and agreed to a motion that would "conditionally permit" the spending of the money when the study is released.
“We should know which direction we're going to go before we're spending this money,” said Mayor Rebecca Alty. “And so, (a) conditionally permitted (approach) allows us to spend it in 2021, if need be, but if it comes forward and it turns out that X, Y and Z will be considered, we can decide whether to proceed or not at that time.”
Coun. Robin Williams agreed with Alty.
"I have hesitation just because we're also funding a study, and the study may find that there is a reimagining of the entire way we do bathrooms at the facility," Williams said.