Centre to 'trim repair time, improve service'
Published Tuesday June 29th, 2010
North side | New facility welcome addition to Ambulance NB
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By ADAM BOWIE
bowie.adam@dailygleaner.com
Ambulance NB officials say opening a new fleet centre and regional office on the city's north side will reduce the amount of time some ambulances are parked for maintenance and cleaning.
The 994-square-metre facility, which is located off Cliffe Street on Harold Doherty Court, will provide space for system officials to perform minor repairs and cleaning processes in Fredericton, instead of at the main fleet centre in Moncton.
It will also house the system's regional administration offices and provide paramedics from the region with new work quarters.
Ambulance NB CEO Alan Stephen said the state-of-the-art facility will improve service in the region and will trim the amount of time vehicles from the western part of the province are pulled from the system for maintenance.
"What this now allows us to do is that the vehicles from the northern tip of the province through to Fredericton can now come (here)," he said.
"We're cutting a lot of mileage on the vehicles, a lot of driving time and, of course, the (maintenance) time to get a vehicle in and turned around and back into service rapidly."
Stephen said several reserve ambulances will also be stationed at the site, allowing paramedics to switch vehicles and return to service while the repairs or a decontamination process is completed.
He said the new site provides a great operations centre for the five ambulances based on the city's north side.
"It's strategically located - from both an operational point of view and from a fleet maintenance point of view," he said.
"To be so close to another first-responding unit - the Fredericton (Fire Department) - is great and over time I think we'll see the synergies develop as the two services work together in what we do, and that's providing the best pre-hospital care that we can for the people of New Brunswick."
Ambulance officials provided a tour of the leased facility Monday afternoon to several provincial cabinet ministers, city councillors, representatives from the Paramedic Association of New Brunswick, paramedics' union CUPE Local 4848 and members of the fire department.
Health Minister Mary Schryer said the facility will create new efficiencies in the maintenance process and address backroom needs in the system.
"We've spent a lot of money on the actual ambulances. Now we're looking at the infrastructure in which to house those ambulances," she said.
"They'll have three here for an ambulance bay, plus there will be the ability to do minor repairs on the ambulance."
Mayor Brad Woodside said the facility should make life easier for the paramedics who work in this region, giving them a new home base to use while carrying out their duties.
"It's good for the morale of those that are involved in the industry," he said.
Woodside said Ambulance NB has made considerable progress since turning the more than 50 individual provincial ambulance operations into one universal system in 2007.
"It's never been, in my memory, something that's been easy to do," he said. "In just the short time that I've been here in this new facility, to talk to the staff about refurbishing and cleaning and maintaining ambulances and being connected and having a provincialwide system, certainly indicates to me that we've come a long way."
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City hall, developer reach compromise on subdivision in Lincoln Heights
Published Tuesday June 29th, 2010
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By HEATHER MCLAUGHLIN
mclaughlin.heather@dailygleaner.com
City council has reached a compromise on a hotly contested subdivision application by developer Edouard Gebreal at 1530 Lincoln Rd.
The developer agreed to subdivide five lots. His first proposal was for seven lots, but changed it to six. The city won't take land, but will take an eight per cent cash contribution in lieu of land for public purposes.
An eight per cent land dedication, or cash in lieu, is required of every subdivision developer in the city. It's a way for the municipality to ensure that it has either enough property in a new area to build a park or that it gets a financial contribution to enhance a community park.
Lincoln Heights residents have fought a pitched battle against the proposed housing development because, they said, Adams Street at Lincoln Road is a busy corner.
Ward Coun. Scott McConaghy thanked his constituents for making presentations, writing letters and for patiently pursuing their concerns through the planning approval process.
"They were completely engaged in the process ... They faithfully came to these meetings and wrote many letters and they presented their position quite well and quite clearly," McConaghy said.
"Basically, what we have here is somewhat of a compromise between some of the citizens that got together and the developer.
"Maybe everyone isn't quite as happy as they would want to be, but it's something that many of the citizens can live with."
The developer wanted to maximize the use of the property he purchased by trying to convince the city to rezone a property zoned R-2 single family to allow seven lots.
Since it was a rezoning, councillors could reject it based on neighbourhood concerns about the risk of accidents at the Lincoln Road and Adams Street intersection.
But when Gebreal came back to the planning advisory committee with a request for six lots, the committee erred in attempting to block the development. Since he had enough land, could meet the city's required lot sizes and had the correct zoning, denying him approval could have landed the city at the New Brunswick Assessment and Planning Appeal Board or in the Court of Queen's Bench.
After obtaining internal legal advice, city council had to send the application back to the planning advisory committee with instructions to only deal with the question of whether the city would take cash or land.
Frustrated residents said nothing altered their arguments that the housing development would be too close to what they contend is an already dangerous T-intersection.
McConaghy said lessons have been learned through the Lincoln Road subdivision that the planning advisory committee will consider in future applications.
"Hopefully, you're a little more pleased than you would have been when this process started," said Mayor Brad Woodside.
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