(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

won't be anything flashy, says cao

New Lacombe fire station to replace ball diamond next to cemetery

Oct 31, 2024 | 4:02 PM

A location has been selected for Lacombe’s new fire station.

The station will be located at 4410 Woodland Drive, just south of the Co-op grocery store. This information became public this week after a lengthy period of being confidential.

This is adjacent to the municipal cemetery, and offers easy access to Highway 2A, though it does mean the loss of the south ball diamond at the Lacombe Kinsmen Recreation Park.

The site will undergo a formal planning and development process before final confirmation; project completion will likely be in 2027 with construction not getting underway until fall 2025 at the earliest.

That process includes removal of what’s called a habendum clause, which in this case designates that the land be used only for cemetery purposes; any current use is therefore temporary. Originally put in place in 1979, it can be removed; council voted to do that at its meeting this week, however, to complete its removal, the city must also prep a preliminary site plan, begin the subdivision process, and amend local documents such as the North Area Structure Plan and Cemetery Master Plan.

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Final approval must then be received from the provincial director of cemeteries

“Council is pleased to see plans for our new municipal fire station begin to take shape,” Mayor Grant Creasey said. “The location of our fire station is critical to keeping residents safe when they need it most, and this location was the first choice by the majority of our stakeholders.”

Close to 20 properties were considered, according to the city, with seven getting detailed analysis. A review took place over 15 meetings between the councils and administrations of both the city and county, as well as fire personnel and provincial partners; 87 per cent of those who partook selected the aforementioned site as their first choice. The unselected sites are not being made public.

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Criteria included: response time performance, safety of location, access to major roadways, residential impact, land availability, and impact on future developments.

“To address residents’ concerns about lights and sirens, a new Standard Operating Guideline for the Lacombe Fire Department will be drafted to ensure that emergency equipment abides by the Traffic Safety Act and is only used when required during nighttime hours,” a release states.

“The city is developing subdivision plans, a design for the new fire station, and the final budget, which will be decided during the 2025 budget process. The development permitting process and construction are tentatively scheduled for fall 2025.”

City council recently set budget guidelines; there is a tentative $2.25 million set out for this project in 2025. Another half million was earmarked in 2023, and then $2.25 million in 2024, with $3 million also slated for completion in 2026 — the project has a total budget of $8 million.

It was also noted to council this week that there will be several opportunities for the public to engage in the process, including through an eventual public hearing, letters for property owners within 60 metres of the site, and an open house once designs are done.The latter won’t come for some time as a Request for Proposal still must go out.

There will also be a survey to gauge the impact of the current downtown fire station on nearby property owners.

CAO Matthew Goudy said as for the current station, there are several reasons it can’t remain the home of Lacombe Fire Department.

“Number one, the city doesn’t own the building, and we’re just a tenant there. That makes it hard for any permanent investment. From a size standpoint, it doesn’t meet the growing needs of our department, and one of the modern trucks we’re buying won’t even fit inside. They have limited space to work on and test equipment,” Goudy said.

“Of course, anyone who goes through downtown knows that it can get congested, meaning it can be disruptive and hamper response times.”

Goudy said there was discussion about the possible need for two fire halls, and that’s something that’ll come in the future, he predicts — with another opening on the east side of the tracks.

That would also require a second set of dedicated staff at a time when the bulk of the department is made up of paid on-call firefighters.

Meantime, Goudy noted the city has a good stock of ball diamonds elsewhere, and new ones are in the works to replace the one being lost.

Additionally, Alberta Health Services has expressed interest in implementing EMS response out of the new fire station, and Goudy said ‘promising’ conversations between AHS and the city are ongoing.

The full report to council can be read here.