Grey County will purchase land in Durham from West Grey for a new paramedic services base.
The new base will be located beside the proposed West Grey Police Services station near the Durham hospital.
Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy asked why they couldn't build on lands the county already owns, and Deputy CAO Randy Scherzer said this location was the best option.
"That definitely was considered in terms of the overall vision for those lands that are outside of the Rockwood Terrace lands — we're currently exploring the ability to use those for supportive housing projects in the future," he said. "Plus the access point for these lands right off of Grey Road 4 provides quick access for emergency vehicles. In fact, we're going to be designing it so there's going to be an emergency vehicle exit so that it gets right on to the road."
West Grey agreed to sell the lands for $150,000, conditional on a title search, environmental assessment and entering a cost sharing agreement for the road and services needed for the new base.
Meaford Councillor Ross Kentner asked whether the removal of inpatient beds from Durham would impact the proposed base, but CAO Kim Wingrove said it was still the best location.
"The bottom line, I think to your point Kevin (McNab, Director of Paramedics), is that Durham is the right place for the space. No matter what happens, this is the place. Our external consultant 4H, Kevin did have them look at this and run the numbers and I think the information that you got back from them is that the Durham commitment is the one to make."
The next step will see staff will finalize the cost sharing agreement and issue a tender to hire a contractor for the design and construction of the base.
The total cost for the new base is estimated at $3 million.
