Heather Wright/The Independent

Petrolia Councillor Liz Welsh wants the town to start planning for a new fire hall.

She’ll ask council to support her suggestion at the Sept. 22 council meeting.

The condition of the 50 year-old Centre Street hall has been a point of contention for a couple of years now. 

The department needs a decontamination room since provincial labour laws now say firefighters must shower before leaving the hall. But Enniskillen, which funds 40 per cent of the costs of the department,  balked at the $280,000 cost several years ago. Fire Chief Rick Cousins recently suggested that room could now cost $2 million. 

At a Petrolia council meeting in Nov. 2024, councillors asked staff to investigate a loan to build a new hall in 2025.

Monday, Welsh filed notice she wants council to start moving on a new building now. 

Welsh says the hall is now rated to be in just “fair” condition and is nearing the end of its life. But, she said in the motion going to council Sept. 22, a replacement for the fire hall does not appear in the town’s long-term financial plan.

Welsh says the town is “growing and we need to plan for increased population and structures that meet our needs and levels of service in the long term.”

She wants the town to put the fire hall into the town’s long-term planning process and that “a plan to replace the current fire hall begin immediately including exploring location, examination of other recently constructed fire stations for best practices,” according to the motion. 

Two southwestern Ontario departments have recently built fire halls. Strathroy’s $9.1 million hall is under construction.

Parkhill replaced its aging hall in 2023 for a cost of $6.5 million.