Bringing fire service to the Sturgeon Valley could cost residents more than $600 each per year for the next 15 years under a proposal put before residents at an open house last week.
Residents flooded into the open house at the Sturgeon Valley Golf course last week with a host of questions about the proposal that would cost more than $10 million and could be billed directly to valley residents.
The project would bring fire hydrants and increased pressure to the Sturgeon Valley, giving volunteer firefighters a dedicated source of water in case of an emergency.
While there are hydrants already scattered throughout the community, the water system can’t deliver enough water to feed modern fire engines and extinguish a blaze. The fire department currently uses water tankers when they have to fight a fire even if a fire hydrant is nearby.
Sturgeon County started an engineering study on the issue last year after receiving complaints about high home insurance rates for valley homeowners.
To bring the valley’s systems up to a firefighting standard, the county would have to perform major upgrades to two pumping stations as well as underground piping.
It would also have to install 124 new hydrants to make sure the space between them was no more than 150 meters.
The county is also proposing to build a new fire hall in the Sturgeon Valley, replacing the existing fire hall in Namao. Moving the hall would bring more of the valley to within eight kilometres of a fire hall, which is considered an acceptable standard.
Coun. Tom Flynn, who spent the majority of the night surrounded by residents, said he heard a lot of different opinions about the project, but most people were there to get more information.
As people left, they were asked to complete a survey about the project. Flynn said he wants to see what people had to say.
“I am eager to see what the reaction is to the anticipated cost.”
He said the people he spoke with gave him a mixed bag of responses.
“Some of them were anxious about the cost, while others thought they would save on their insurance.”
Overall the cost of the project would be $7,983,000, plus anticipated interest, bringing the total to $10,777,050.
A homeowner in the valley would pay $603 per year as a local improvement levy. The county hasn’t finalized that total, but has made known it doesn’t have any money set aside to pay for the project.
The estimated $6-million bill for the new fire hall would be paid for using general county taxes.
Fire Chief Bart Clark said administration doesn’t have a firm timetable on the issue and may have more public consultation before bringing the issue to council for a final decision.
“We are a long ways from making a final decision.”
