1 Executive Summary
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Volunteer Fire Departments are a vital part of communities across Canada. Almost 95,000 trained, dedicated volunteers give countless hours to protect their villages, towns and cities and ensure that the nation has a first-line response capability that is unsurpassed in readiness and effectiveness.
The Grand Lake Road Volunteer Fire Department has been a part of a national network of emergency responders for more than 4 decades. Since its inception, the department has evolved steadily, to strengthen capabilities, enhance services and build financial resources. Today, it enjoys the trust and confidence of the people it serves, is respected and admired throughout the volunteer fire fighters fraternity and generally viewed as a pro-active advocate of community advancement.
Successful though it may be, the Grand Lake Road Volunteer Fire Department is not content to rest on its laurels. It understands and appreciates the vital importance of continuing the work that has shaped its character and made the community a better place in which to live and work. Under consideration by the fire department is a modern, strategically located and fully integrated emergency services centre on Grand Lake Road on the site of the former Lake Vale School.
When fully operational the proposed emergency services centre would accommodate a range of responders from 911 Emergency through to Search and Rescue, Hazmat Response, Canadian Blood Services, and Regional Police Emergency Response Team. As well, the centre would be configured to facilitate training, food service, overnight accommodation and community events. The structure would comprise 50,000 sq. ft. within a modern two story pre-engineered steel building with a footprint of 25,000 sq. ft. Typical of emergency centres it would have water purification technology and an alternative power supply. In essence the facility would function as the area’s primary evacuation centre.
The project would be developed in two phases. Phase 1 entails construction of the pre-engineered building and completion of 21,000 sq. ft. of interior area to accommodate 6 emergency service tenants initially. Total capital required to initiate the project is just over $2 million. Of that sum, the Grand Lake Road Volunteer Fire Department proposes to contribute $725,000 by way of equity and to compete arrangements with a commercial lender for an additional $725,000 in mortgage financing. It is intended that the balance of required capital will come from the Province of Nova Scotia ($300,000) and the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) by way of a parcel of land valued at about $280,000 that is the site of the former Lake Vale Elementary School.
The purpose of this submission is to formally request CBRM to cede ownership of the above noted land on Grand Lake Road to the Grand Lake Road Volunteer Fire Department for operation of an emergency services centre. The centre is anticipated to have a significant and noteworthy impact on the municipality. Moreover, in agreeing to jointly pursue the project, CBRM and the fire department would give life to a partnership with the potential to address in a specific way the area’s infrastructure deficit. If developed the collaborative may have implications on related projects for other communities.
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