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Independent & Free Press, Wednesday, July 18, 2007 3 An artist's drawing shows the proposed new 12,033 sq. ft. Maple Avenue fire station which will be a joint facility with Halton Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The current Maple Ave. station was originally supposed to be a "temporary" location back in 1977. Dufferin fined $90,000 for 2005 accident St. Lawrence Cement, operating as Dufferin Aggregates, has been fined $90,000 for violating the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The fine that was imposed by Justice Richard LeDressay of the Ontario Court of Justice in Oakville Thursday related to an incident Oct. 3, 2005 at the company's Churchill Rd. Acton quarry. An employee was knocked unconscious for a two to three minutes when he was struck on the head with equipment. The worker was helping to replace a horizontal spring underneath a movable table, which uses vibration to move quarry material to equipment for crushing, when the accident occurred. A Ministry of Labour investigation found the setup of equipment used to replace the spring failed because hydraulic-stored energy created during the spring replacement wasn't released or controlled while the work was being performed. St. Lawrence Cement, a Concord-based company, pleaded guilty, as an employer, to failing to ensure the hydraulic energy was dissipated or contained during the spring replacement as required under the Regulations for Mines and Mining Plants. In addition to the fine, St. Lawrence Cement was required to pay a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge. Fire stations will `finally' be built Continued from pg. 1 Marshall said the building will also incorporate an area that can be turned into a dormitory if the department becomes a 24/7 operation. The current Maple Ave. station will remain fully functional while the new station is being built, and demolished after the move. The new station will also have improved access to Maple Ave. and access onto Armstrong Ave., which Marshall said will improve the service's response time to Norval and east Georgetown "significantly." There is also space on site for the development of a playground/parkette for the adjoining residential community in the southwest corner of the property. Due to the station's proximity to a rail line and the potential for a rail disaster nearby that could shut down the communications centre's ability to dispatch calls it has been decided to move the service's administration offices fire communication/dispatch centre and Emergency Operations Centre to the new south Georgetown station, which will be fire headquarters. The primary response area of the new station at Eighth Line and 10 Sideroad will be Georgetown South and surrounding rural area. "It was very important to match the growth to date and planned in the next few years," said Marshall. Without a station in that area Marshall said firefighters have been finding it difficult to meet the Ontario Fire Marshal's requirement of 10 firefighters on scene in 10 minutes. `We're really excited we are going to finally be able to advance and meet the expectations of the public.' --FIRE CHIEF BRENT MARSHALL The south Georgetown station will be slightly larger than the Maple Ave. station at 13,555 sq. ft. and will include five vehicle bays and a heritage room to display the service's 1942 Ford fire truck. Marshall is excited about that heritage facility because he said currently the truck is being stored in an old shed on the Maple Ave. property. "It needs to be in a controlled environment where conditions are stable," he said. "It won't be just a great storage facility, it will be a museum in effect." That station will also include a meeting room and a hose drying tower, which will provide a more environmentally friendly way to dry the truck's hoses after a fire. Access from that station, which initially will be on a well and septic system until servicing is extended to the site, will be from both Eighth Line and 10 Sideroad. The fire department will be able to control the traffic lights there to ensure speedy access. The Town was originally considering locating the station on 10 Sideroad west of the Ninth Line but that idea was abandoned because the price for the required land-- $900,000-- was too expensive and significantly higher than staff's original estimate of $150,000. The Town will have to buy a fivemetre strip of land beside the Eighth Line/10 Sideroad station to accommodate the temporary septic system and well. In keeping with the Mayor's Halton Hills Green Plan, Town staff has been asked to look into how much it would cost to build the stations to LEED (environmentally friendly) standards. Funding for the Maple Ave. station will come in part from the 2007 GTA pooling allocation from Halton Region-- about $614,000-- and the rest from the Major Capital Allocation Reserve Fund. The total cost of the south station will be funded through development charges. "We're really excited we are going to finally be able to advance and meet the expectations of the public," said Marshall. Mayor Rick Bonnette called the station designs "attractive, but the buildings are also very practical." "This is not empire building," said Bonnette. Ward 2 Councillor Bryan Lewis summed up his view on the fire stations in one word. "Finally," he said. Council voted unanimously in favour of the stations and financial plan to pay for them. Ward 1/2 Regional Councillor Clark Somerville was absent. (Lisa Tallyn can be reached at ltallyn@independentfreepress.com) Bowling in style An artist's rendering of the new Georgetown South fire station to be located on the northeast corner of 10 Sideroad and Eighth Line. The new station will serve as fire headquarters. Maddie Howat recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Georgetown Lawn Bowling Club by donning a period outfit for the club's open house. Howat has been a club member for 25 years. Photo by Yves Desjardins IMAGINE C R E AT E Take the QUALITY and FLAVOUR of your cuisine to new heights, with Primo! EXPERIENCE the excitement and luxury of preparing an entire meal on a grill modeled after the 2000 year old, traditional "kamado" - or oven - cookers of Japan and composed of the finest ceramic materials. ENJOY versatility and countless possibilities. Grill. Smoke. Sear. Roast. Bake... Cook direct and indirect, simultaneously. 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