OUTLOOK - A pair of special meetings of the councils of both the Town of Outlook and the RM of Rudy helped pass a cornerstone moment on the road to a new fire hall in the riverside community.
Held on Wednesday, April 2 in the town council chambers, mayor Ryan Husband was present, along with Councillors Sharon Bruce, Donna Smith, Kevin Grotheim and Guy Derdall, as well as Assistant Administrator Rachel Sillers. The meeting was broadcast live on the Town of Outlook's official Facebook page.
Husband explained that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the submitted tenders for the project and sign off on them, noting that the RM of Rudy, for their part, had done so at a previous meeting held earlier in the week.
"Because we have the Joint Protective Services Committee that administers the fire department with the RM of Rudy, they've also had a special meeting to make a resolution to accept these tenders to build the fire hall," he said. "The other thing was that pricing is quite volatile at the moment, and so we want to get these prices and tenders locked in as soon as we can."
Husband and Councillor Grotheim attended the March 31 committee meeting with RM councillors and reeves, going over the tenders in detail. Afterward, a motion was made that the committee recommended to the municipal councils that the tenders be awarded to the lowest bidders in each case, involving at least 13 local contractors, subject to reviews performed by the project manager, and ensure that the contractors have included all necessary sections of each bid.
The work carried out by RM and town councillors involved going through the bids to make sure that everything had been included and captured, ensuring that there were no significant errors.
At this meeting, the mayor and town councillors discussed the total of 37 bids from 28 tenders in front of them.
One of the more interesting aspects of the project is the total cost to build, which has been affected by the ongoing soap opera-like drama surrounding Canada and the United States over tariff costs. The original $1.2 million target in order to have the hall essentially paid for has seen the proverbial goal posts be moved, with the project now carrying a cost of approximately $1.659 million, but Mayor Husband noted that $109,000 of that cost can be subtracted as in-kind pledges that had been previously made as part of the tenders, as well as roughly $77,000 in contingency funds. Councillor Grotheim also added that the total cost includes the site grading and asphalt work.
"I know that in the public, we had been at $1.2 million as kind of the goal, but some of the information we're hearing is that even since that time in the fall, a lot of this stuff has gone up 15% already," said Husband, later noting that fundraising isn't completed for the hall.
Those around the room commended the details they saw in the tenders that were submitted, with a wide array of local companies looking to cover all aspects of the project.
Councillor Grotheim made a motion to accept the tenders as presented, which was carried.
A detailed account of the tenders awarded for the new fire hall is expected to be available in the coming days.
Read the official media release from the Town of Outlook just below:
Reeve Kent Harrington of the Rural Municipality of Rudy #284 and Mayor Ryan Husband of the Town of Outlook are excited to formally announce kick off of the construction of Outlook-Rudy Fire Hall at 211 McKenzie Street North. This is the biggest project that the Outlook-Rudy Joint Protective Services Committee (in existence since 2022) has taken on and the new fire hall is a great example of the benefits of regional and local collaboration. The fire hall will be the new home for Outlook-Rudy Fire and Rescue. ORFR currently serves the Municipalities of the RM of Rudy #284 and the Town of Outlook as well as the Villages of Broderick and Glenside (formal long-term fire and rescue protective services agreements have been signed with both villages).
In 2023 the Outlook-Rudy Joint Protective Services Committee announced its plan to proceed to build a functional, reasonable, affordable and sustainable fire hall with the project starting with substantial fundraising prior to selection of a final design. A community led Campaign Cabinet (fundraising committee) was quickly formed and was led by Co-chairs Gerry Gross and Bree Campbell. Additional key members on the executive of the cabinet were John Linsley and Stephanie Hogan. Other members of the cabinet include community members Arlin Simonson, Dale Wright, Maureen Weiterman, Dennis Fuglerud, Justin Turton and Dalas King, along with municipal staff members volunteering their own time to the project Luke Lockhart, Wendy Ball, Rachel Sillers, Kevin Trew, Trent Sim and members of both Councils. Throughout the campaign, the focus was that the fire hall would be built in the community, by the community, for the community.
The campaign has previously announced that it has raised in excess of $1.2 million.
Today, the tenders were awarded to 13 local contractors who, combined, have pledged over $100,000 of in-kind work along with many suppliers also pledging additional supplies in kind. The total projected costs are confirmed at $1.66 million including final landscaping costs and a contingency fund. All told, $1.4 million has been raised in donations and in-kind pledges, the volunteer Campaign Cabinet is making a final push for pledges and donations so that this truly will be a community built fire hall at no cost to the local ratepayer.
The project manager selected last fall is RiverGrove Homes and they will soon be in contact with all selected contractors to coordinate and begin the project. The fire hall is expected to open in late fall, 2025.
