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[Victoria] Fire Station #1 | 1234 Yates Street

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#1 Bernard

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Posted 18 October 2011 - 10:37 AM

A report is out giving council a number of options to deal with need to upgrade the fire station.

The options run from $6.5 million to $16.5 million.

Some more on the issue at the Open Victoria site.



#2 Mike K.

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Posted 25 October 2011 - 11:24 AM

JohnsonStreetBridge.org has published a post revealing that while the City of Victoria was calling the Johnson Street Bridge the biggest infrastructure priority in the City, the main fire hall had been identified as a structure that would not withstand a strong earthquake.

This raises the question of whether or not Victoria voters would have supported a full out replacement of the Johnson Street Bridge in light of the need to build a new firehall and why news of the firehall's condition was not released to the public and council until 19 months after its completion.

The blog post is at: http://johnsonstreetbridge.org/?p=2066

JSB.org is also asking the public to sign an open letter to Victoria councillors expressing concern about the delays. The letter can be accessed at: http://johnsonstreetbridge.org/?p=2072

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#3 aastra

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Posted 25 October 2011 - 11:43 AM

On the plus side, any gawkers who want to cycle downtown to watch the inferno that ensues after the big quake will sure have a spiffy route by which to get there.

#4 Jacques Cadé

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Posted 25 October 2011 - 11:52 AM

... and they'll need the exercise, because they won't be getting it after the City closes Crystal Pool.

#5 Bingo

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Posted 25 October 2011 - 08:09 PM

What other news are they keeping under wraps until after the election next month?

#6 Mike K.

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Posted 10 November 2013 - 09:12 AM

So what's this about the City considering relocating the #1 firehall? Where would it go if it was moved from its perch on upper Yates Street?

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#7 sdwright.vic

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Posted 10 November 2013 - 09:39 AM

While no fan of the current mayor, why is he bearing all the blame when we have over 50 years (maybe more) of councils and mayors for a lack of maintenance on any of the infrastructure in the city. Seems two prevalent to build something, do cosmetic maintenance, then be surprised when its about to fall down?!?
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#8 Mike K.

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Posted 10 November 2013 - 09:48 AM

I don't think the blame is with the current mayor or council per se, but the City of Victoria in general. City staff should be ensuring the City is running like clockwork -- I mean that's their job.

Where people are getting upset with the mayor and council is during their tenures salaries at City Hall have climbed while major revelations about infrastructure conditions are suddenly appearing on the radar. No doubt tax payers are upset that salaries are rising while monumental infrastructure woes rear their heads.

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#9 eseedhouse

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Posted 10 November 2013 - 09:55 AM

I don't think the blame is with the current mayor or council per se, but the City of Victoria in general. City staff should be ensuring the City is running like clockwork -- I mean that's their job.


They cannot do those jobs without sufficient resources. When councils, who control the purse strings, decide they can do without those resources for "a few years", the responsibility does not lie with the staff.

#10 sdwright.vic

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Posted 10 November 2013 - 10:00 AM

^ I agree. But there seems to always still be a "do we need to do it now" attitude. People then ask "well, do we pass the expense off to our children"?

When are we going to accept that "we" were the children the expenses were passed off to? We have two different issues here, a self indulgent government, and parents & grand parents that passed the buck onto us. Yet we seem ready to do the same thing in some cases.
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#11 Mike K.

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Posted 10 November 2013 - 10:00 AM

They cannot do those jobs without sufficient resources. When councils, who control the purse strings, decide they can do without those resources for "a few years", the responsibility does not lie with the staff.


So you're saying that if you are the chief engineer at the City of Victoria and council tells you that your funding is being decreased or capped, you quietly accept and get back to your desk never to raise the issue or voice your concerns before these gatekeepers until infrastructure is literally crumbling away?

Your job is to ensure infrastructure is maintained, that's what you're being paid for. If council decreases your funding that does not absolve you of your responsibilities.

Now don't get me wrong I am not absolving the politicians of this mess but the responsibility here has got to be shared.

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#12 James Bay walker

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Posted 10 November 2013 - 01:07 PM

While no fan of the current mayor, why is he bearing all the blame when we have over 50 years (maybe more) of councils and mayors for a lack of maintenance on any of the infrastructure in the city. Seems two prevalent to build something, do cosmetic maintenance, then be surprised when its about to fall down?!?

Because, he's the one left holding the 'hot potato'.

So long as councils can amend staff reports, rose tinted glasses will prevail imo, until it's obvious to pretty much everyone that neglect has taken its toll.

jbw

#13 phx

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Posted 10 November 2013 - 01:55 PM

Now don't get me wrong I am not absolving the politicians of this mess but the responsibility here has got to be shared.


Shared with the voters, perhaps?

#14 Mike K.

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Posted 10 November 2013 - 02:49 PM

Shared with the voters, perhaps?


How so? I'm not sure what voters have to do with regular maintenance of a piece of infrastructure.

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#15 sebberry

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Posted 10 November 2013 - 02:58 PM

My bet is that the chief engineer has presented the recommendations to council and council simply ignores it or doesn't know how to budget for it. There's probably a lot of frustration amongst those hired to "get things done" when council doesn't give them the resources to do just that.

Many of our current crop of councillors behave more like activists chaining themselves to trees than getting down to the business of running the city.

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#16 phx

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Posted 10 November 2013 - 03:11 PM

How so?


The voters elected the council. Dean Fortin, for example, is on his second term and was known to the voters when re-elected.

#17 Mike K.

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Posted 11 November 2013 - 09:08 AM

I'm still not following how voters are responsible for a poor maintenance program.

I mean I know what you're saying in that elected officials can make decisions that can impact funding for a variety of things, but maintenance and repair is still the responsibility of City Hall staff regardless of funding (and believe me, while funding may be decreased or capped staff should still find a way to make do just like the private sector does). I can't imagine we should be expecting Councillor Madoff to assess the Bay Street Bridge's capacity to withstand an earthquake just because she voted to keep a department's budget from increasing at their desired 10% annual raise.

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#18 phx

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Posted 11 November 2013 - 03:06 PM

Are you expecting staff to do a good job when they are not provided sufficient funding? How is that supposed to work?

#19 Mike K.

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Posted 11 November 2013 - 06:42 PM

How much funding do you expect staff to need? I'm not familiar with the City of Victoria telling it engineers that they had absolutely no budget to maintain integral infrastructure. Are you? Maybe I'm missing something?

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#20 sebberry

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Posted 11 November 2013 - 08:00 PM

City departments probably have the money needed to do routine maintenance and emergency repairs, but I hardly doubt they've the bags full of cash needed to do major overhauls of fire stations and bridges.

Filling pot holes and sealing cracks =/= seismic upgrades.

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