The construction contract for a new fire station in Niagara Falls' west end was approved by city council Tuesday evening.
Politicians voted to award the contract to Bromac Construction Inc.
The station will be built on a 1.52-hectare property at 8530 Lundy's Lane, just west of Kalar Road, that the city paid $1.5 million for in 2014.
It will be the site of the municipality's seventh fire station, addressing a wait time issue for the growing area.
Fire Chief Jim Boutilier has said four minutes is the standard response time in Niagara Falls. On the west end, it's taking more than five minutes for crews to respond.
"So happy to see this," said Coun. Carolynn Ioannoni, a long-time advocate for the project.
In an interview, Boutilier said the station concept has been in the works for about 10 years.
"We've gone through several consulting firms to tell us that we need one in the west end of the city, due to all of the new developments that are going on out there," he said, pointing to the Warren Woods subdivisions and the future arrival of Costco and a new hospital.
The cost of the project is $7.2 million. To accommodate the station, a new pumper/rescue truck will have to be purchased for an estimated $1.1 million.
Boutilier said the hope is for construction to begin in November and be completed by May 2021.
He said the state-of-the-art facility will also be home to the fire department's emergency operation centre.
"Right now we're at station one for that, we're going to be moving that out there as well."
About 35 Niagara Falls firefighters attended Tuesday's council meeting.
"Can't wait to get going," said Boutilier, who thanked council for its support.
A staff report that went before council Tuesday said Bromac was selected in a bidding process, in part, because of the company's experience in completing other major construction projects for Niagara Falls, Grimsby and Niagara-on-the-Lake, including four fire stations. Bromac's bid was also the lowest the city received.
Staff recommended council borrow against the city's development-charge reserves to pay for the project. The required borrowing will not be made until project completion. The required borrowing is within council's approved debt-management strategy.
The report points to earlier consultant reports, including a master fire plan in 2010, a station location study in 2012 and a staffing study this year, all of which concluded the current land is in the correct location and the opening of the new station and placement of a fully staffed fire apparatus is required within the next two years.
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