Proposed KSAR headquarters moving ahead as residents support up to $6.3M in borrowing

Certified results of the AAP will be shared during the July 16 board meeting, Davies added.

The results are very good news for Kamloops Search and Rescue’s lengthy search for a new space to call home.

“To me, [the AAP results] shows that the community has confidence in Kamloops Search and Rescue, and search and rescue services in all of the TNRD,” KSAR president Paula Davies said. “We’re so grateful for the community and we’re so happy that they chose to support this project.”

In addition to serving as headquarters for Kamloops Search and Rescue, the building will also be a space where other regional search and rescue organizations in the TNRD can come to train.

“There are four other search and rescue teams in the TNRD and they all have pretty decent buildings right now,” Paula Davies said. “Kamloops Search and Rescue has this warehouse, which we’re very appreciative of being able to stay in but it doesn’t serve our purpose anymore.”

“[The new space] will also serve as an emergency operations centre. We can also hold courses here as well. The Justice Institute of BC often asks us to hold courses but we haven’t been able to because we don’t have a proper classroom space.”

The new facility will also be home to a new fire station to serve the Rayleigh area of Kamloops. City taxpayers will contribute about $2.4 million towards that project, which is also badly needed.

“The existing station is…let’s just say it needed some work,” Kamloops Fire Chief Ken Uzeloc said. “But for me, the bigger component is improved response times.”

“Right now, our paid on-calls have to respond from Rayleigh out to the Tolko site to get the truck and a lot of times respond back into Rayleigh. This is going to save a good 10 to 15 minutes in response times for those crews now once that station is built.”

The money that the TNRD borrows will help fund construction costs as well as up to $100,000 in annual operating costs of the building. It estimated a residential tax rate of $1.07 per $100,000 of assessed value or $7.37 per year for a property in the TNRD valued at approximately $680,000.

“When we talk about the TNRD paying operating costs, its to keep the lights on in the building basically,” Colton Davies clarified. “It’s your typical electricity, water, sewer, building maintenance those kinds of things.”

“The emergency responders that occupy the space are responsible for all of their equipment and things that they need.”

KSAR has also committed to contributing up to $1.4 million towards this project, and those fundraising efforts are underway.

“It has been slow going, but we’re hoping that with the alterative approval process being a positive that that might create some momentum,” Paula Davies said. “We’re in the quiet phase of our campaign but we’re hoping to also get some support from private businesses, corporations, industry as well.”

Any amount that KSAR raises towards the project will be allocated to the TNRD’s portion of the costs. The regional district will shoulder up to 75 per cent of the total construction cost, while the city will cover the other 25 per cent.

With this borrowing approval in hand, the TNRD will now work with project stakeholders on detailed design and construction timelines. If all goes well, construction may get underway in 2027.

“We had some preliminary meetings before the alternate approval process started but now we can actually sit down and do some final planning on construction and the building design and that kind of thing,” Paula Davies said.

“The TNRD is looking forward to collaborating with KSAR and all other regional SAR groups that will benefit from this facility,” added Colton Davies. “At this point, we don’t have the exact timeline for construction but when those details are known, we will definitely be giving public updates.”

by Victor Kaisar

Proposed KSAR headquarters moving ahead as residents support up to $6.3M in borrowing

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