The Municipality of Cumberland is going to proceed with building a new fire station in Springhill while including a proposed new fire station in Parrsboro in the capital budget for future development.
During its regular meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, municipal council passed a motion to cancel the request for proposals for the construction of fire stations in Springhill and Parrsboro, which closed in November 2023, due to budgetary concerns.
Further, council is proceeding with plans to build a new fire station in Springhill and is directing staff to issue a new RFP for this project.
Council is also referring the construction of a new fire station in Parrsboro to the capital budget process for further discussion.
A key strategic pillar of council’s fire service strategy has been the implementation of the hub model with support for training, equipment, resources and emergency response capability concentrated in four key areas of the municipality, never far from the most remote areas and close enough to all local fire departments that provide support.
Parrsboro, Springhill, Pugwash and Truemanville have been designated as the hubs. With this in mind, council has set out to reinvest in fire apparatus, equipment and buildings.
Significant deficiencies in the Springhill building made it a priority for replacement with Parrsboro as the second priority and allowances were made in the 2023-24 capital budget to replace both stations, based on estimated costs of previously constructed stations.
Staff issued a request for proposals in 2023 for the design and construction of both stations with the anticipation there would be economies of scale in tendering two projects together, particularly in the design phase. Through this process, it was determined the original budget was not sufficient and the budget was increased by council on Sept. 13, 2023, to a total of $6,317,400 for both stations.
The RFP closed on Nov. 9 with only one response, from Iron Maple Inc. (the same company that build the Pugwash Library). Its submission significantly exceeded the amount budgeted. Including non-recoverable HST, the costs for Springhill and Parrsboro’s fire stations were $5.707,051 and $5,060,478 respectively. With land acquisition costs, the Springhill project would cost $5,707,096 while Parrsboro’s cost would be $5,160,478 for a total of $10,867,574.