BONNYVILLE – Before long, the Kopala building on the outskirts of the Town of Bonnyville will be home to Station 1 Bonnyville and the headquarters of the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA).
The goal of bringing the operations of the BRFA’s three divisions under one roof has been years in the making.
Regional Fire Chief Dan Heney says Phase 1, which will see BRFA administration and the 911 dispatch centre move into the Kopala building, is just five to six months away.
“Once administration and 911 are settled in place, then we'll look at bringing EMS over by the end of [2024], and fire either by the end of the year or probably early 2025,” explained Heney.
With a loan to cover renovations and upgrades secured from the MD of Bonnyville, tenders for groundwork and building renovations have been recently awarded by the Fire Authority.
“Clark Builders is the company that's doing the work. They mobilized on site the second last week of September,” Heney told Lakeland This Week. “Construction has already started. You can't see it because the work they are doing is inside the building.”
When it comes to the work that needs to be done outside of the future home of the BRFA, a company that operates out of Cold Lake, E Construction, has been contracted to tie the building into sewer and water.
Before the ground freezes, crews will add fencing around the property and possibly carry out some grading in preparation for paving that will be done next spring.
The MD is loaning $4.5 million to the BRFA at a five per cent interest rate over 20 years. The Fire Authority will also be using $1.5 million from its reserves for the project.
Under one roof
Speaking of the importance of bringing BRFA managed services under one roof, the fire chief noted that consolidating efforts will be the biggest benefit of the move.
“Right now, we have three divisions that all need administrative support that work out of two locations. Constantly trying to balance where the administrative help is has posed challenges. So having them all together means that we're going to get better efficiency out of our administrative staff,” he said.
The building that is currently housing Station 1 Bonnyville is owned by the Town of Bonnyville. The ambulance and 911 centre building are jointly owned by the Town and MD of Bonnyville.
When the three divisions make their final move into the newly renovated BRFA-owned building, it will be up to the Town and MD to decide what they will do with the vacant buildings.
The transition of services will not likely translate to any monetary difference for ratepayers, but “what I would suggest is that our service levels are going to change,” stated Heney.
“When you look at the region that we support, the two most populated areas are the Town of Bonnyville and the MD of Bonnyville in and around Moose Lake. Now our facilities are going to be located right smack in the middle of the two most populated areas, which means that our responses are going to be more effective around the lake than they ever were before.”
Heney hopes there is another knock-on effect of moving the fire station to the Kopala building – increased volunteer recruitment.
“My hope is that maybe we can recruit members from the people who live around the lake that probably would have never thought of being a volunteer firefighter before.”
