Ground broken for new fire station in Emerald Park

RM of Edenwold breaks ground for firehall WATCH: Ground was broken for a new firehall in Emerald Park, but some are questioning the need for the facility. Alison MacKinnon reports.

EMERALD PARK — The RM of Edenwold officially broke ground for its new fire hall in Emerald Park on Friday.

The area had previously been supported by volunteer departments like White City and Pilot Butte.

“We've had mutual aid agreements with neighboring towns around, but this facility, we feel will makes us a full partner in the program,” Mitch Huber, the reeve of Edenwold, said Friday.

The Emerald Park Fire Department will be run by Pilot Butte fire chief Kevin Dell. Eight new volunteers have already been training with the Pilot Butte department to ensure they’re up to speed when the facility opens in the spring.

“I'm hoping to have a dozen here by the end of the year and then next summer I would expect to grow that through somewhere around 20 to 22,” Dell said.

The plans for the new hall have caused some concerns for officials in White City. Mayor Brian Fergusson said council is worried about losing volunteer members to a station only four kilometers away.

“Each one of those volunteer fire departments will have a smaller pool to draw from because (they will be) facing competition from the RM’s fire hall,” Fergusson said.

“As an example, two weeks ago there was a fire in the area, and we have 21 firefighters, but only six were available. If you start to take that number down very much you see very quickly that we're unable to maintain the same level of fire services.”

Huber reiterated the new station is focusing on getting new members, rather than taking from those already volunteering with other stations.

“We've got people from Emerald Park on White City’s Fire Department, we have people from our rural side on the Pilot Buttes as well as Balgonie fire departments. We aim to grow into a family to complement each other,” the reeve said.

The RM contributes to equipment costs for fire departments in White City, Balgonie, Edenwold, Pilot Butte and Kronau. The RM also has a contract with the City of Regina for use of its fire service.

In the last three years, the RM of Edenwold has contributed $330,500 to the operation of White City’s fire department, $171,000 to Pilot Butte, $171,000 to Balgonie and $47,000 to Edenwold.

According to documents from the RM, it has not been involved in decision-making for the departments that provide fire services to the community. It believes constructing a fire hall would allow for more effective decision-making and services.

The RM conducted a cost-benefit analysis of that estimated construction of a new fire hall would cost $82 thousand more over 11 years, compared to paying into its existing agreements with White City, Balgonie, Edenwold, Pilot Butte, Kronau and Regina. The RM estimates it would save approximately $1.5 million over 21 years if its forecasted estimates are met.

The RM said much of the funding will be coming from past, present and future development fees, but the budget had to be increased to $1.6 million with the change in scope.

Council said it believes residents won’t feel much of an impact from this project.