Stanstead Township adopts loan bylaw for new fire hall project

Acontentious fire hall project that divided residents and municipal council members in Stanstead Township last year has returned to the table, and this time around the town believes it has a winner.

The project has been debated for over three years. And it was rejected last fall in a referendum, after a group of residents banded together to oppose the proposed fire hall. They claimed it would be too expensive, as the town wanted to include a multifunctional room.

The newest iteration is basically the same project, according to Mayor Francine Caron Markwell, minus the additional room, which was meant to act as both a training area and a space residents could rent out whenever it was made available.

There is still a multifunctional room, but it is significantly smaller, and it will only be used by firefighters. Markwell recently opened a register for a $1.4 million loan bylaw, which is $500,000 less than the original proposal, to help cover the cost of construction.

“If there are 174 signatures that means we would have to go to a referendum, or choose to drop the project, again,” Markwell said, adding that residents have until July 29 to challenge the loan bylaw. The project is estimated to cost $2.1 million.

After the project was turned down in October 2020, the Régie intermunicipale de prévention et de protection incendie Memphrémagog Est announced an $11 million investment plan in December for fire halls in the region over the next six years.

This prompted the creation of a special committee in Stanstead Township. The committee consisted of two residents from the referendum’s ‘no’ camp, and two from the ‘yes’ camp, as well as two council members, the local fire chief, and a representative from the Régie.

Together the group came up with new plans for the fire hall, eliminating what was considered an unnecessary, and expensive, multifunctional room. Markwell is not convinced that the project will be much cheaper than before.

“We are losing a $150,000 grant from the MRC and a referendum cost close to $15,000 and then all the extra costs for architects, every time they had to touch the plans,” she said.

The next step is waiting to see the result of the loan bylaw register. Markwell said that if the bylaw passed, then an architect will need to draw up the final plans, and then the town will initiate a call for tenders to get the project off the ground.

Markwell has stated that she will not run for re-election this year, ending a two-term mandate. When asked if she wants to see the fire hall project approved before leaving office, Markwell said the decision ultimately falls into the hands of the population.

“It has been going on for three years, they are getting what they wanted, so if it does not go through, in one way it’s not my fault, exactly, it’s the people’s fault, really, to fight against everything all the time,” said Markwell.

David Mitchell, a member of Vision Citoyenne, a local watchdog that oversees Stanstead Township council activities, said the current project proposal is a major compromise, and a win for citizen participation. The council listened to the demands made by concerned parties.

“What we can say up front is that this whole project created a lot of tension in the community and as we all know in politics it’s not always easy to find solutions that make everybody happy,” said Mitchell.

It has been a frustrating ordeal to watch the council continuously miss the mark with this project, he continued, but most of the town is ready to move on. He does not believe many people will put up a fight, or actively object to the new project.

“The main idea is that everybody is really fed up with all the fighting over this project, and finally we have a project that reaches most of the concerns of the majority of citizens,” Mitchell said.

However, he did bring up the current situation in Quebec. The province is still suffering from COVID-19, construction costs are higher, and municipal elections are coming up, he said, and some residents are questioning whether this is the right time for the project.

“The thing is that we are in July, they are asking for a new loan, we’ll see the reaction of the public, but on our side we don’t have any intention to mobilize and block for the time being,” Mitchell said.