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	Corporate Report
DEPARTMENT/	CAO's Office
DIVISION	Emergency Medical Services	REPORT NO.	2008.116
DATE PREPARED	May 22, 2008	FILE NO.
MEETING DATE	June 2, 2008
SUBJECT	EMS Thunder Bay Station and District Headquarters Report

RECOMMENDATION

With respect to Report No. 2008.116 (Emergency Medical Services), we recommend the construction of a new northside EMS Station on a portion of City-owned property at 60 Junot Ave North;

AND THAT the Beck Street EMS Station be retained;

AND THAT the Superior North EMS Thunder Bay northside EMS Station / District Headquarters / Thunder Bay be relocated to this site;

AND THAT a neighbourhood consultation process be undertaken prior to re-zoning;

AND THAT the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to execute any necessary documentation;

AND THAT any necessary by-laws be presented to Council for ratification.

On 30 April 2007 Council approved a plan to construct a new EMS station and District Headquarters, and to close the Beck and Roland Street EMS Stations and current District Headquarters. (Report No. 2007.093 (Emergency Medical Services)

In accordance with Report No. 2007.093 (Emergency Medical Services), EMS pursued the site of the former Oliver Road School. After subsequent meetings with residents and a review of 2007 EMS data, administration determined however, that there were some issues with this site, and accordingly Oliver Road is no longer being pursued.

Administration now recommends the EMS station and District Headquarters be constructed on a small portion of City owned lands at 60 Junot Street North, adjacent to the Junot Street Firehall. Administration continues to recommend that EMS’ current Headquarters and Roland Street EMS Station be closed while retaining EMS’ Selkirk Street Station. Administration is now recommending that the Beck Street Station be retained to ensure appropriate response times to the Current River Ward.

This Report reviews the need to close the operations at Roland Street in favour of a new location that is better situated relative to the call volumes in the northside of the City. Two of the most important factors to consider when choosing a location for an EMS Station are from where the emergency call originates and how quickly paramedics located nearby can arrive at the scene. Thunder Bay has two distinct zones of high call volumes concentrated in each of the City’s cores.

The following criteria, in order of importance, are used to assess each location:

• located in the centre or close to the centre of the high call zone
• size of property
• double lane road access and egress
• access to major arteries north, south, east and west
• speed limitations if any
• ownership of land (i.e owned by the City)
• zoning
• adjacent uses

Although our Beck and Roland Street EMS Stations fail to meet the first two criteria, we recommend that the Beck Street Station be retained to respond to emergency calls north of Shuniah Street and in the north core. The Roland Street EMS Station should be closed.

It is the opinion of EMS administration that a new northside EMS Station and District Headquarters be located on part of the property at 60 Junot Street North. (see Attachment B)

60 Junot Street North is an ideal location for this EMS facility for the following reasons:

• it is located close to areas with high emergency call volumes
• the size of the property permits it’s use for an EMS Station / District Headquarters
• there is double lane road access and egress in four directions: Junot Ave north and south and Red River Road east and west
• the Thunder Bay Expressway and other arteries (Dawson Road, River Street, John Street, High Street, etc) are easily and quickly accessible
• there are no reduced speed zones in close proximity
• the land is owned by the City of Thunder Bay

Prior to constructing an EMS facility at 60 Junot Ave North re-zoning will be required. The site is currently zoned as “OS” (open space zone). After public consultation, EMS intends in the fall of 2008 to bring a re-zoning application to Council. Although the proposed site is an open field located close to a playground and trails, the following considerations are important to note:
• The proposed facility will not infringe upon the playground
• The proposed facility will not impact on the existing trails
• EMS requires only a small, largely unused portion of the site
• Few trees will be removed, and more than what is removed will be planted
• An existing ditch and tree / brush line will not be disturbed; this will provide a natural barrier between the playground and the facility
• There should be no issue with increased traffic generated by EMS (vehicle or pedestrian) since it is already a very busy area
• The only residences in close proximity are across a very busy, four lane road (Junot Ave); adjacent to a very busy and heavily commercial intersection (Red River Road / Junot Ave)
• A Fire Station, operating 24 hours a day 7 days a week, is located proximal to the proposed site
• The Parks Division supports this site as appropriate for an EMS facility

EMS’ Beck Street Station should be retained so that paramedics may rapidly respond to 911 emergencies in the Current River Ward and the downtown north core. As seen in Attachment D, this station is important to maintain current response times to this area of the City. Should Beck Street be closed, it is likely that EMS response times to the Current River Ward would increase.

The closure of the Roland Street Station and the District Headquarters at 401 Donald Street East will result in lease savings of $108,000 per year. The annual lease and operating cost for the Beck Street Station is approximately $70,000.

The most recent estimates of the cost of facility of this magnitude is approximately $10 million dollars.

The Province’s move to true 50/50 cost sharing for EMS in 2008 and favourable outcomes to negotiations with the Province on providing funding at 100% for the provision of EMS to First Nations and Townships Without Municipal Organization mean that this proposal may be achieved within the approved EMS budget.

It is concluded that the construction of a northside EMS Station and District Headquarters at 60 Junot Avenue North, and the retention of the Beck Street EMS Station should be approved.

On 30 April 2007, Council approved EMS’ plan (Report No. 2008.116 (Emergency Medical Services)) to close EMS’ Donald, Roland, and Beck Street sites and to replace them by constructing a new EMS facility in the City’s northside which would include the Headquarters aspect.

Administration recommends that 60 Junot Ave North be the site for the new EMS facility. It is administration’s view that this location better suits the above noted criteria, and will deliver response time improvements at least equal, or better than what was anticipated at Oliver Road.

Attachment A Site Plan – 60 Junot Ave North (Distributed Separately)
Attachment B Aerial Photograph – 60 Junot Ave North (Distributed Separately)
Attachment C Response Time Map – Current Situation (Distributed Separately)
Attachment D Response Time Map – EMS Proposal (Distributed Separately)