City approves budget for College Street fire station
The city of Sherbrooke formally approved the budget points for Lennoxville’s new fire station on Monday night, clearing the way for the project to move ahead with the next steps of development. Based on current plans, the construction of the new station is slated to begin at the top of College Street in 2018 with completion expected in 2019. The budget for the project is $3 million.
The new building will be built along the same style and general format as the stations recently built along Bourque Boulevard and in the Plateau St-joseph areas.
David Price, President of the borough of Lennoxville, noted that while it is good to see the project moving forward in terms of what it means for the community’s emergency services coverage, the news comes with a bitter note for Lennoxville as well.
“I was happy to propose it,” The borough president said, “but it’s more or less the final curtain call on our volunteer fire department.”
Under the new arrangement the team serving Lennoxville will be made up of full time firefighters stationed on-site. With some shifting of existing firefighting personnel, Price explained that this means 6 permanent firefighters being added to the city payroll.
“There’s a cost there and it’s there now forever,” he continued, noting that the volunteers were able to provide a service without the cost to the city.
Counterbalancing that concern, however, the borough president said it will be a “big plus for the whole community,” to have first-responders stationed right in the heart of Lennoxville.
On a separate but related front, Price said that the question remains open as to what will happen with the existing fire hall once the new station is built. He explained that as far as the borough council is concerned, the entire building should come to serve as the community hall, rather than just the top floor as is currently the case. The reality of the situation, however, is that the decision is out of the borough’s hands.
“It’s a community thing,” Price said.