The Cold Lake RCMP will have a new building to call home, after the city agreed that starting from scratch was the way to go.
The municipality has been in discussions with RCMP “K” Division since 2016 about expanding the existing Cold Lake detachment, however, the conversation shifted from utilizing the current building to constructing a new one altogether.
The need is based on a space analysis conducted by the RCMP, which indicated an additional 500 sq. metres would be required. This would bring the detachment’s 835 sq. metre facility to 1,335 sq. metres, which would address overcrowding issues and meet operation requirements for the next 10 to 15 years.
The expansion was estimated to cost the municipality $3.5-million, with the city allocating over $1.6-million in 2017, $122,000 in 2018, and $1.9-million in 2019.
The project was broken down into two parts, after the RCMP expressed a need for priority improvements in the cellblock.
Phase one, Cold Lake’s general manager of corporate services Linda Mortenson said, was to “fix the cellblocks and renovate them,” while phase two addressed the physical expansion of the facility.
“It took quite a while to work with the RCMP, and they’re division didn’t come back for almost a year on that, and now, the discussions we’re having, they feel that actually won’t be big enough for them for phase two and they will need probably almost double that expansion,” detailed Mortenson during council’s meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
In June, the city met with representatives from RCMP “K” Division, which was when the police force presented their need for additional square footage.
They’re recommendation was for an additional 889 sq. metres, roughly 400 sq. metres more than their previous ask.
The RCMP told the city the reason for the additional space was in order to meet the RCMP’s new design standards, which have changed over the past three years.
With this in mind, Mortenson explained how it would be more beneficial for the city to plan for a brand new detachment, rather than build off of their current one.
She noted, the expansion would cost in the ball park of $10.6-million, while a new building would cost $11.3-million, money the city would have to borrow and pay back through capital replacement.
The process of designing, getting the proper approvals, and construction could take upwards of 36 months, the city estimates. In the meantime, the RCMP have requested the city still move ahead with updating the cellblock.
“The renovation is to deal with some health and safety issues having to do with ventilation of the cell block area itself. There are some mold and ventilation issues that they’ve identified,” explained Glenn Barnes, general manager of community services.
“The RCMP have done their evaluation of the cell block and we’re taking that evaluation as being valid,” he continued. “It’s difficult to prove them wrong… It’s difficult to point and say ‘that’s right and that’s wrong,’ so you look at the expertise and accept their recommendation.”
Council was concerned with spending $600,000 on upgrading ventilation that will ultimately go unused.
“Once they move out of that site, unless we’re going to utilize cells for something else in our community, it’s going to be a real shame. It seems expensive to put new ventilation into those cells for $600,000,” Mayor Craig Copeland said. “That’s a lot of cash to go toward buying a site. The best thing for us, is we have some money, it looks like $3-million set aside already, it would be better for us to say ‘sorry.’”
Coun. Bob Buckle agreed.
“I have some deep reservations moving ahead with that kind of expenditure, even though it’s recommended and they’ve sworn up and down that it is, nobody’s dying over there now and they’re using the cell block now.”
Barnes said, “I think the discussion, if we’re going to get into a discussion with the RCMP about how quickly we’re going to move, that’s something that needs to be discussed with council, because I don’t think the RCMP are aware of what your intentions or goals are in regards to timelines. If that was sooner than later, one would have a better position in arguing the case.”
At the time of the meeting, all the RCMP was looking for was confirmation from the city that they would be moving ahead with a new building.
Council agreed to get started by putting the design out to tender using funds already allocated to the project.
When the Bonnyville Nouvelle contacted the Cold Lake RCMP, they declined to comment.
