Emergency services move to Kopala building a step closer with bids open

The tenders are live for the renovation work needed for the former Kopala building, which Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority Station 5, EMS services, 911 operations, and the administrative offices will move into. 

Fire chief Dan Heney confirmed that after stalls in the process, they are moving forward. 

“We’re definitely excited about moving forward to the next step. And we’re excited in living up to our responsibilities of transitioning our 911 center to NG911 (Next Generation 9-1-1) because that’s all part and parcel of this,” Heney told Lakeland Connect. 

The overcapacity of some of these buildings, plus the required technology to handle the federally mandated changes to 911 service dispatch, were primary reasons to acquire the building in the first place. 

The tender bidding process will be complete toward the end of January, then the BRFA board will evaluate the bids. Originally, roughly $3.5-4 million is anticipated for the total work. 

But market forces and rising costs with inflation could have an impact. 

“Then we’ll start to take a look at the scope. Once I have a good idea of the numbers coming in from the tenders, then we can reach out to the local banking institutions and secure our financing. We’ve already had some great discussions, and unfortunately, we’re gonna go ask for some financing right in the middle of the worst period of banking the last few years,” he said. 

The first part of work will be the inside renovations to the building. That will allow the move over to happen faster. 

The hope, if there are no hitches, is to be completed by October or November.  

“Then that would mean the building is ready for tenancy…We originally expected that we’ll get, the bare minimum of the renos was done in the office areas. And then we can inhabit the office and then all the rest can be done while we’re in the building as an admin team, and then eventually bring the responders over. 

“But it looks like now, we’re probably going to be in a position of getting all the work done before we try to move,” he said.