Lot #3 of Bowen’s municipal lands is relatively flat, and it is close to the RCMP and paramedics stations. These factors, plus the proximity to homes in Hood Point, led council to vote on this site as the latest location for a new firehall.
The old firehall, on Grafton Road near Killarney Lake, was declared seismically unsound in 2002. In 2008, it was decided that instead of upgrading the Grafton road firehall, a new one should be built at a new location, a place where new, larger firetrucks could be housed.
As of January 2014, council had decided upon Lot #1 of municipal lands as an ideal location for this project. Beside the public works lot across from the recycling depot, it was considered to be an easy site to develop, with easy access for firetrucks.
Homeowners in Hood Point West raised objections to this chosen location, as it would have left their homes more than 8 kilometers from the station - resulting in higher insurance rates.
But following a site-survey of Lot #1, other issues were discovered. Site preparation measures such as necessary removal of organic matter, the building of retaining walls, and creation of an adequate amount of flat land on the site would cost between $600 and $900 thousand dollars.
This led the municipality’s Firehall Steering Committee to look into other locations, and committee liason Alison Morse brought a new proposal to council on Monday evening.
She asked for permission to go ahead with a site survey of Lot #3.
Hood Point West resident Hugh Freeman is thoroughly pleased to hear that this lot is now being considered.
“I just think that all homeowners on Bowen should be treated equally,” he says.
With unanimous approval of this potential firehall location, Morse says the plan is to come back to council in September with further details about what trails exist there, the land’s topography, and what a firehall might look like if it were located there.
