Kamloops city council approves new fire hall, apprenticeship dollars, passes on training centre

City nixes training centre

Photo: KTW file photo

A sign directs visitors to council chambers in Kamloops city hall.

Kamloops city council has once again defeated a proposal to establish a training centre for protective services agencies, but voted to approve two other budget additions that will be funded starting next year.

On Tuesday, council’s committee of the whole decided which supplemental budget items will be included in the city’s five-year financial plan. These business cases are considered separately in the budgeting process because they represent a change to a current service level or offer something entirely new.

Neither of the two approved supplemental budget items will have any impact on the 2026 budget or this year’s tax rate, but they will be built into the financial plan with costs starting in 2027.

In a split 3-5 vote, the committee decided against spending about $3.2 million over five years to establish a long-proposed protective services training centre.

The training facility expansion was pitched as a place for protective services agencies from across the region, including RCMP and firefighters, to complete necessary training locally instead of travelling to the coast.

Coun. Nancy Bepple said she first wanted to see funding commitments from agencies which had provided letters of support for the facility.

“It's not the City of Kamloops’ responsibility to create a training facility for this whole region and expect to pay the whole shot,” Bepple said.

Coun. Mike O’Reilly agreed.

“Ultimately it's a good thing to get eventually. I'm just not there yet,” he said.

Meanwhile, Coun. Stephen Karpuk said he felt such a facility was “long overdue,” adding the centre would have eventually generated income down the road.

A staff report said cost savings were also a factor. The RCMP spends about $222,000 per year sending Mounties out of town to receive firearms training alone. Kamloops Fire Rescue spends $33,000 per year on travel for firefighter training, and the municipality’s Community Services Division spends $11,000 annually.

The proposal was defeated in a 3-5 vote, with O’Reilly, Bepple, Coun. Katie Neustaeter, Coun. Kelly Hall and Coun. Margot Middleton opposed. Coun. Dale Bass was not present at the meeting as she is on vacation.

The training centre was turned down by council in a 4-3 vote during last year’s budget discussions. In 2021, the former council also rejected a plan to build an $8.7 million police training centre.

Fire hall rebuild approved

Karpuk said a $27.6 million plan to replace KFR Station 6 fire hall in Dallas was “long overdue” given the growth that has happened in east Kamloops.

“We're trying to play catch up for the growth that's already occurred, not for the growth that's yet to come,” he said.

His council colleagues largely agreed.

The project will involve demolishing the existing hall next year, constructing temporary facilities, and then building the new hall in 2029. The new station will include three apparatus bays, offices and administrative areas, training and meeting rooms, fitness room, living quarters.

It's part of a plan to transition the Dallas fire hall from paid-on-call model to a fully staffed station as call volumes increase in this area of town.

Apprenticeship funding green-lit

The committee voted 8-0 in favour of a plan to fund apprenticeships at the city starting in 2027, at a cost of an additional $101,600 each year until 2031. Staff said this plan will help ensure a steady skilled trades workforce by investing in apprentice growth and development.

“This helps people in our community secure education and skilled trades, as well as supplements a lot of the works we do in our current trades,” said Joe Luison, City of Kamloops assistant civic operations director.

Council still must give its final approval to the 2026 budget and the five-year financial plan.

The provisional tax rate for this year sits at 5.7 per cent after additional budget revisions.