View Royal residents voted in favour of the town borrowing $5.49 million to build its new fire hall.

Unofficial results show 1,677 residents supporting the loan, while 924 voted against it. An estimated 33 per cent of eligible voters participated in the referendum, held Saturday.

B次元官网网址淚 have a huge respect and am grateful to the 60 per cent or so of the folks who voted for this, because thatB次元官网网址檚 a resounding approval,B次元官网网址� Mayor Graham Hill said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 an affirmation of the councilB次元官网网址檚 position, it is a ringing endorsement of the volunteers and the department and the management there.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 quite relieved, IB次元官网网址檓 glad that the process is done,B次元官网网址� said Coun. Heidi Rast, protective services chair. B次元官网网址淚 think the town hall had much better quality information. I think that helped a lot. I also think that the volunteer (firefighters) association, they put a lot of hard work in. They went literally door-to-door to every household. I think that made a big difference.B次元官网网址�

View Royal Fire Rescue has operated out of its current fire hall since 1957. Engineering reports done in the 1990s determined the building to be seismically unsound.

The new safety building is proposed for 329-337 Island Highway.

A loan of up to $7.9 million was rejected by residents through the Alternative Approval Process in July, forcing the referendum.

Leading up to the referendum, the town reduced the amount of the loan by shaving $500,000 off the project, borrowing $1 million internally and deciding to use a further $1 million from contributions from new developments or other sources.

Going into the referendum Hill was unsure what the results would be.

B次元官网网址淔rankly, the previous night was pretty sleepless,B次元官网网址� Hill said. B次元官网网址淏ecause this was so important, as I saw it, for the wellness of the town.B次元官网网址�

Hill said in hindsight the AAP may not have been the best way to approach seeking approval from the community.

B次元官网网址淚 think a mistake was made in going to an AAP, where you cannot get out all the information to as broad a community as you want,B次元官网网址� Hill said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not very much of an advocate for it and I think I made a mistake in supporting that.B次元官网网址�

The total cost of the building is estimated to be about $7.37 million, an estimated property tax increase of $85 per year for an average single-family residence, a 6.7 per cent increase.