CENTRAL MANITOULIN—Rumours swirling through the Mindemoya community that Central Manitoulin council is contemplating closing or moving that community’s fire hall are completely unfounded, according to Reeve Richard Stephens.
“It is absolutely unlikely and untrue,” he said. “We have been undertaking discussions on our options for upgrading the facility, but there is no truth to any suggestion that we are considering moving the fire hall out of town.”
Mayor Stephens admitted that the council is “doing some research” but was adamant that the goal was not consolidation of the municipality’s resources. “That building is really quite old, we were trying to figure out just how old recently and we figure it is about 60-years-old,” he said. “It really isn’t meeting the needs of the folks who have to use it anymore.”
Mr. Stephens agreed that the municipality has explored options that include building a joint facility with the local Manitoulin Sudbury District Services Board’s emergency services. “Yes, there has been some discussion on that possibility,” he said, but noted that there has been no decision or official discussion on that or any other option. “We are just doing some preliminary exploration and research.”
The municipality has some sound advantages in that exploration thanks to new facilities being built in other nearby communities. “We do have some precedents and examples to look at with Gordon and Tehkummah,” he said.
