A Town of Creston open house at the Creston Valley Fall Fair drew more than 400 people during the two-day event, Mayor Ron Toyota said last week.
Toyota spent much of his time encouraging visitors to check out a display about the need for a new fire hall and make comments about potential locations.
“I was really pleased with the amount of interest and positive comments,” he said. “There were a lot of comments showing appreciation that public input is being invited into the process at this early stage.”
Four potential sites for a new fire hall were identified, with two getting the vast majority of support from visitors who took the time to vote their preference with a coloured dot.
The two favoured sites were “the bunker” on Northwest Boulevard and a Cook Street location adjacent to Extra Foods. Neither property is currently owned by the Town of Creston and purchase or expropriation would be required. The bunker site—where a planned seniors’ care facility failed after the concrete foundation was poured--had more votes than the other three locations combined.
Another public open house is planned for November. A referendum, likely in 2017, will give Creston voters a final say on whether construction should proceed.