The Editor,
Re. "Fire hall on front burner after controversial vote" (The Tri-City News, May 6).
My husband is a 33-year veteran of the Port Moody Fire Department and was born and raised in the city. We live here and pay taxes, as do many of the firefighters.
For the past 10 years, I have been concerned about the health and safety of my husband and his colleagues working in this hall when large cracks started to appear in the concrete and concerns about asbestos were raised. There is more danger now in the overhead structure.
Perhaps it would be a good idea if our politicians were to take a look at the history of public buildings in Port Moody.
They would find that in 1960 a new building was built for the Port Moody Police Department and, when it required more space, in 1982 (22 years later), another was built; and in 2006 (24 years later), with the police requiring more space, another new building was built (under Mayor Joe Trasolini and councillors Karen Rockwell and Megan Lahti).
City hall was built in 1995 at a cost of around $14 million. The rec centre was renovated at a cost of $21 million, with a grant of $2 million, leaving taxpayers on the hook for $19 million, and a fine building it is.
This fire hall was built in 1974 and, 37 years later, is no longer a safe working environment. It is not earthquake proof. That also means that the equipment you have paid dearly for - that will, in a disaster, save your lives - is also not in a safe environment. The politicians have admitted this and showed in great detail the health and safety hazards in this workplace.
Yet, Mayor Trasolini has decided that the status quo will remain while he strikes yet another task force headed up by the councillors who voted against borrowing the funds for a new fire hall.
It would be a better idea to stop wasting taxpayers' money with studies, task forces, public meetings and architectural designs, and build that fire hall for the betterment of the community and the firefighters, who deserve a safe working environment.
Ann Cardus, Port Moody
