Letters to the Editor

Open letter to Orangeville council on fire hall

February 27, 2025   ·   0 Comments

In the Feb. 13, 2025, edition of the Orangeville Citizen, there was an update regarding the new proposed Fire Hall for the Town of Orangeville.

From 2022 until 2024, readers have watched as this proposal has ballooned from $16 million to $31.6 million. I, for one, have to ask – does anyone on the committee regarding the fire hall have any idea what they are doing?

The last reports have said that the latest proposal has reduced the cost from 31.6 million down to approximately 25 million.

Orangeville is a town of approximately 30,000, and in my opinion, is very fortunate to have the fire department that it now has.

With this said, Orangeville is one of the most expensive places to live in because of unrestricted spending and grandiose ideas.

When this committee initially proposed a 31.6 million dollar structure with net zero capabilities, those in charge should have immediately removed them and put someone on the committee with some common sense.

Now they are faced with time constraints regarding Skills Development Grants and they feel their back is up against the wall time-wise for approval.

It cost $213,895 for this latest report and that is nearly one quarter of a million dollars. The proposed grant is only 3.7 million.

I have to wonder what this latest cost, along with the cost of all the other changes and studies total up to, and as yet, a shovel has not been turned in the ground.

All these changes and delays have probably exceeded any grant money that the Town might receive.

Some might say that it is easy for someone such as myself to criticize but where are my suggestions?

Well, here are a few:

1. The new fire hall should be built in the present location. This land is already owned, centrally located, and the argument regarding the floodplain is ridiculous and surely must be able to be overcome. Orangeville should tell those in charge firmly that this is where they are building.

2. The building could be a two-storey structure, giving it a much smaller footprint, and I believe it is always cheaper to build up than out. This would save money on land, size-wise, and also, I believe on construction costs.

3. Orangeville does not need its own Training Centre. Major cities just to the south of us have training facilities that can be rented for major training events, and that is far cheaper than building and maintaining your own.

4. The building needs to be looked at in light of what the Firefighters really need and not in light of what some might dream about. Someone on the committee needs to say and decide on what is and what is not absolutely essential.

5. Cities around us have many fire halls, two-storey and single-storey. Why can the town not piggyback off of their designs and possibly save on exorbitant design costs? The firefighters deserve good accommodation for themselves and their equipment, but it needs to be at a reasonable and fiscally responsible price.

In closing, I would also like to address some comments made by two of the councillors.

Councillor Todd Taylor is quoted as saying that surrounding townships, specifically mentioning Mono by name, need to step up and pay their share.

Councillor Taylor is very naive to think that someone who contracts a service can or would be expected to build the town fire hall. What he needs to reflect on is that Mono, along with the other surrounding townships contribute a significant amount of money towards the Orangeville Fire Department, and without them, the Town may or may not be able to afford even what they have now.

I believe Councillor Taylor owes the residents of Mono and the surrounding other townships an apology.

This is not the first time he has criticized us for not paying our share, and he needs to stop his rant. Many of Orangeville’s businesses are owned and run by people not directly living in Town. He needs to stop and consider their value and contributions in the great scheme of things.

Lastly, Councillor Macintosh is quoted as saying that the Orangeville Fire Hall is the oldest around. I don’t really see that the age of the Hall has much to do with anything as long as it is working, but that is just a comment. He does go on to address Councillor Taylor and state that he feels that the surrounding townships should not be expected to build the hall but to pay fairly for services.

These concerns are written respectfully, but Orangeville needs to get control of its spending and start doing what is actually needed, as many are being driven out of town by skyrocketing taxes.

David Boyce

Mono

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