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W ' Sunâ€"'l'ribuncI Feb. £5 2“)?! Town following fire plan, amalgamating halls: chief fire plan of 2003, the staff- ing study and the vision and working plan, Mr. Powers The plan states fire and emergency services head- quarters would move back to Stouffville once the new sta- tion is constructed, he said. The Ballantrae station offic- es will then be turned into sleeping quartel’s for crexvs: _ The new hall in Stouflville will also house the emergency operations centre. It would be the only building in the town to be fully functional, with back-up power generation, in emergency situations. The lire plan had called for a fire hall to be built on Hwy. 48 to serve western Stouffville, while retaining the current downtown sta- tion, on Main Street east of ParkDrive. But, Mr. Powers concludâ€" ed it would be more cost- effective to have only one sta- tion, more centrally located. Between$1.5 millionand$1.8 million can be saved annu- ally by not having to operate a second station. “That is a big factor in terms of long-term opera- tional savings," Mr. Powers said. The town's new hall will serve 35,000 to 40,000 peo- ple by 2021 and will be large enough to accommodate more full-time firefighters. The new station will be staffed seven days a week around the clock by 2010. Ballantrae will have full-time coverage around 2014. When it comes to the numbers, the fire hall was estimated to cost around $2 millionin2003. Town treasurer Marc ]. Pourvahidi said construction costs have risen from $167 per square foot in 2003 to $250. In addition, the 2003 estiâ€" mates were described by CAO Dave Cash as “very pre- liminary”. In a meeting with consultants and town staff a week ago. Councillor Clyde Smith advocated making the new arena in Stouflville as flexible as possible. to hold a wide variety of events. and as energy-efficient as possible. At that time, the proposed station didn't included the headquarters and the emer- gency operations centre. TWO ice pads will be built with a new fire hall off Weldon Road, behind Sobeys. The cost is being covered by development charges. The town is considering adding seats on one pad. ()riginal plans called for about 300 seats‘per rink. A meeting with user groups was scheduled for last night. The cost estimate for the arena in 2004 was around $7.8 million, but grew to about $17 million in 2008, tovm treasurer Marc 1. Pourvahidi said. The arena is emected to open in late 2009. Ice time is fully booked at the town’s two arenas and n‘gis tration capped in some age groups of minor hockey. “Estimates of requireâ€" ments were not based on enough research," he said. The estimate was $1.96 million in 2004, Mr. Pourva- hidi said. Now it is around $5.9 million. Make rinks flexible: Smith The figure in 2004 was preliminary, not factoring in engineering and site work, land and design costs, Mr. Cash said. Because construction costs “have gone through the roof," a development charges report was brought to coun- cil in December, with the result being that developers are paying 20 per cent more in fees to fund large projects such as arenas and fire halls. Now development charg- es are covering 60 per cent of the fire hall’s cost, with taxes paying the rest. ‘ The? new fire hall should be in operation in 2009.“ Building the fire hall and arena at the same time will save money, Mr. Cash said. 7 Constniction on both buildings will likely begin this summer. The design of the new fire hall and arena is to be unveiled to the public at a special council meeting March 10. The meeting starts at 7 pm. in the fourth floor council chambers, 37 Sandiford Rd. in Stouflville. Markham building halls Markham is in the process of adding two new fire sta- tions to bring the municipali- ty’s total to nine. The first one is anticipat- ed to be completed in 2009, similar to the time line for the new Stouffville hall. It will be on Woodbine Avenue near the Cathedral of the Transfiguration in northern Markham. It will be about 10,000 square feet in size and cost around $3 million. It will have a fitness area for fire fighters, a dormitoâ€" ry, kitchen, offices for staff including the fire preven- tion officer, bays for two fire trucks and miscellaneous areas. About 20 firefighters will be on duty 24/7, Allan Seabrooke, acting commis- sioner for community and fire services for Markham. said. ( The second station will serve the Cornell subdivision in the Hwy. 7 and Ninth Line area, and is expected to open around 2010 or 2011. Administrative offices, as well as those of the fire chief, deputy chief, public educa- tion officers and others. are located in another building that is not part of a fire hall. Hannelnrp Vol,»