“Either we completely renovate the Balmoral building or we build a new one in the Eel River Dundee area with a new fire station. Those are pretty much the most realistic options on the table.”
Municipal infrastructure is, according to the mayor of Bois-Joli, Mario Pelletier, the last major issue to be resolved at home following the reform on local governance.
Since the merger, the village of Bois-Joli has maintained the status quo in its municipal buildings file. It still operates with those of the two former municipalities, Balmoral and Eel River Dundee. But decisions must be made as the council does not intend to continue to keep the two offices open for much longer, due to costs. One will have to close… or even both in favor of a brand new building.
In order to take the population’s pulse on the issue, the council launched a consultation on the future of its municipal infrastructure as well as a study on the state of current buildings.
On June 17, around a hundred people took part in this exercise. The meeting consisted of presenting different options to the public and collecting their comments in order to guide the council in its decisions.
At this meeting, two scenarios were the main focus of attention. The construction of a new municipal building with a fire station in the Eel River Dundee area, as well as the renovation of the municipal municipal building in the Balmoral area. However, the latter scenario would also require the construction of a new fire station in Eel River Dundee.
“What you have to understand is that the municipal building and the fire station in the Eel River Dundee sector are completely finished. We won’t even risk restoring them. We will therefore have to, at the very least, build a completely new fire station for this sector,” explained Mayor Pelletier.
The project to construct the barracks and municipal building in Eel River Dundee had been on the drawing board of this municipality since 2016. We then wanted to make it a multifunctional complex. However, the current council has revised it downwards by removing certain elements (performance hall, daycare, spaces for community organizations) since they are already found elsewhere in the extended municipality. The project would still be around $5 million.
The amount of the second project, the renovation of the municipal building in the Balmoral sector and the construction of a fire station in Eel River Dundee, remains unknown for the moment. Mr. Pelletier maintains, however, that several renovations are necessary to the Balmoral building, so in the end, the difference between the two projects could be rather small.
However, the consultations are not yet completely finished. Surveys will be distributed to Bois-Joli residents online and by mail.
A preliminary report should be submitted to the council in mid-July with a more precise idea of the costs of the two projects.
The final report will be delivered in September, the objective being to allow elected officials to take a position on the issue before October 1st.
