Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today

By Dylana Kneeshaw

THOMPSON NICOLA REGIONAL DISTRICT

Referendum date to be selected soon for proposed fire protection expansion in Tobiano, Cherry Creek

Mar 18, 2025 | 4:44 PM

KAMLOOPS — A referendum date will soon be chosen to determine if Tobiano and Cherry Creek residents want the Thompson Nicola Regional District to borrow $3 million to build a new fire hall for the area.

The regional district needs to gain public approval for the borrowing needed to pay for the new fire service. And if residents vote in favour of the proposal, the TNRD would use $3 million to build and equip a new fire hall, while the annual operating cost for the expanded fire zone would grow from $325,000 under the existing Tobiano service to $400,000 with Cherry Creek included.

As far as taxation, the expansion of the fire protection area would cost property owners $1.14 per $1,000 of assessed value, according to the breakdown on the TNRD’s summary of the proposal.

“The proposal includes, obviously, the operation of a new fire department but also a new fire hall and fire apparatus to go with it,” says TNRD General Manager of Operations Jamie Vieira. “The proposed location of the fire hall is in Cherry Creek but just at the doorstep of Tobiano, about 4 kilometres away. The firehall would be in the heart of Cherry Creek, just off the corner of Gardi Road and Highway 1.”

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A similar proposal was brought forward in 2022, but it was paused because bylaw amendments needed to be approved to allow for the creation of a combined service area.

A date for the referendum still needs to be finalized and Vieira expects that to happen soon, but with the requirements around how far in advance the residents need to be made aware of the proposal, the earliest a referendum could happen would be June 21 of this year.

If the proposal is approved by residents, Vieira says coverage would begin in January of next year.

“That would be, operationally, that we could provide fire protection all the way through to Cherry Creek through the existing Tobiano fire truck and fire hall in Tobiano and then we would be looking to be breaking ground sometime later in 2026 to have the fire hall operational in 2027.”

Design work has not been completed, however the TNRD says the hall would resemble recent builds for Loon Lake and Monte Creek communities.