Council in Fernie has advanced its third reading of some bylaw changes regarding its fire hall replacement project – pending a Supreme Court decision on whether the baseball field will be legally protected.
In a 4-3 vote on Tuesday, February 24, Fernie city councillors decided to move forward with its third reading of two zoning amendments that would see a portion of Prentice Park changed from parkland to institutional, allowing “emergency services” as permitted use to support the construction of a new fire hall in the area.
The City also clarified several points during the meeting about the use of Prentice Park, saying the park was purchased – not donated – from Crowsnest Resources in 1972, and that the proposed fire hall site only represents 0.35 per cent of the total municipally-owned greenspace.
The decision comes amid a court battle to determine whether Council followed judicially appropriate processes when selecting Prentice Park as the site for a new fire hall.
Councillors Audia Kelly, Harsh Ramadass and Ted Shoesmith were all on the side of the room that wanted to wait for legal clarity before advancing.
“For what it’s worth, I think that the vast majority of the town is tired of all of this and finds all of this upset distasteful, as do I,” said Shoesmith. “And for me, this isn’t a partisan thing. I just had my opinions on this from early on, and they haven’t changed.”
However, staff clarified that, despite unknown risks such as the Supreme Court and grant results, further delays to the project would result in high costs to upgrade the current staging facility for firefighters, as well as added fees for another feasibility site selection process.
“The legal case will be what it will be regardless,” said Mayor Nic Milligan. “I don’t want to dismiss the concerns of council or the concerns of the community about that issue, but I do accept that this has been a long and difficult process, and I’m of the mind to keep it moving forward in the way we can.”
Staff will still need three to four weeks to finalize reports and public notices, regardless of the Supreme Court decision.
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