Capital Improvements Program (cip) Committee - Regular Meeting

Very well, welcome everyone. We are going to open the CIP meeting for the city of Londonderry on August 11. We will enter directly into the heart of the matter. First of all, as I do at each meeting, I remind you that this is only a consultative committee.

We will examine the projects and, in the end, classify them according to our judgment on the way we see things.

This will be transmitted to the school council and the municipal council so that they take it into account when they seek to put forward some of these investment projects. Our objective is therefore simply to listen to the projects, to ask questions if we have any, to dig a little if necessary and to give us an idea to facilitate these rankings. That being said, we move directly to our new affairs, namely the overview of the projects and the presentations. And more specifically, tonight we have the honour of being joined by the service of an assembly.

We have Kate who helps remotely. Make sure you get close to the microphones from the first to the second. All votes must be made by nominal appeal. Thirdly, you must accept to authorize her to participate remotely. Then Kate must explain to us the reason why she participates remotely.

Very good, okay.

Does the committee accept that Kate participates remotely?

Okay. I'm trying to figure out if I need a motion or just, okay? Does the committee accept that Kate participates remotely? A consensus is enough. A consensus. I agree.

Okay. And now, Kate, what are the reasons why you participate remotely?

I'm in Indiana on a business trip, but I can't be there in person today.

It's not such a long trip, Kate.

Wonderful. There's always one like that in the group.

Is that enough, Sean? That's good. Yes, sir. Perfect. Very good. On this, I give you the floor, gentlemen.

Good evening. For those who do not know me, I am your fire chief, Jim Young. Jim Young, I am sure you know all the deputy chief, Le Blanc. Thank you for receiving tonight. Would you like us to proceed with the presentation or do you have a particular order that you would like us to follow?

No, it's entirely at your discretion. So if you have a presentation ready, we would be happy to hear it.

Excellent. So I created a PowerPoint to, in a way, address some key points as we go through the projects that we are going to present to you tonight. They are divided into four categories, the first being the vehicles, the second the installations, the third the equipment and the fourth the infrastructure. We will therefore review each of these categories. There are several million dollars to be invested in capital, in capital. And moving forward, you will see that a good number of these projects are concentrated at the beginning. And I mean that this is a 20-year demand, because we are trying to catch up with our delay. For many years, we have not invested in our investment plan. So we run after the time for the vehicles and the elements that should have been replaced for a long time. Thus, a good number of our requests concern fiscal year 27. We have tried to detail this as well as possible according to our replacement calendars, of which we will talk more in detail in the next slide, please. So it's a bit difficult to read, but it's just there as an example. This shows each vehicle in the fire service and its replacement calendar scheduled for several years. We are trying to replace our vehicles, those for which we can take advance, on the basis of recommendations and national standards. The pumps and scales should be replaced every 15 years, leave the frontline service, serve as reserve vehicles, before being completely removed from service at 25 years. They should not remain in service longer than that. The first vehicle for which we are looking for a replacement is our Rescue 1, the heavy rescue truck. It is a heavy rescue vehicle, 2011, type without interior access. It has exceeded its lifespan, its life expectancy, and we are already trying to catch up our delay with this one. We would like to replace it with a similar vehicle, but consider a model with interior access that would allow teams to go in the back, to store additional equipment, to have a place to recover with heating and air conditioning according to extreme weather conditions, etc. and to transport more equipment for our various interventions. The estimated cost is indicated here. Excuse me, it's written very small, I can't read it. I think it's about 1.9 million euros. The other problem we encounter with vehicles is the extended delivery delays. Between the signing of the contract and the delivery 2 to 3 years is probably a fairly favorable duration. At the moment, there are some equipment like our scale on truck that we ordered. We are waiting for four years. And this can go beyond, depending on the level of customization that you ask for these equipment. Are there any questions about the ambulance before we move on?

I have a question. So you were talking to me about the delay, right?

About the time it takes when you order it and that... What happens if something goes wrong and is not repairable? Like you just don't have this equipment anymore. Is that what you're saying?

Exactly. Well, this equipment is the only one of this type in our fleet. So if it had to be put out of service between now and the reception of a new one, the city would no longer have an ambulance. We should distribute its equipment on our other vehicles and do our best. Ichi, but it is your only ambulance that discharges the whole city.

Well, I was especially thinking about the story of the scale you were talking about. And again, I don't know everything, but I mean, what happens if you totally lose this equipment?

You have two options, basically. Either you operate without it, or you see if another community would be nice enough to lend you a similar type of equipment that could be in stock in their fleet, for example, that you could use during the period when you don't have it. Fortunately, in this city, as far as scale is concerned, we have two of them. One is a platform, the other is what we call a right ladder, without a saddle at the end. Without a saddle at the end. Ah, okay. So we would always have a ladder if one of them was out of service, but it would be a different style.

Okay.

I was just worried for you too. It's a concern that we share with you. And that's the cost of the replacement of this equipment or any equipment. You run the risk of finding yourself without an essential device if it fails, either because you did not plan to replace it, or because you ordered one and you are waiting for this extended delivery time. I have a question for you. Chef, is there any value for this machine? Do you resell it? What do you do with it? There is generally a fairly good value on this market, that of fire trucks. Because of these extended delivery deadlines, many small and rural services will pay a decent sum for a spare equipment. This is our project. For example, we currently have two machines in construction, two pumps in production. When we take delivery, we will try to sell the two that are replaced. And I think we can make an interesting sum of it. We sell them to public auction, non-media auction, or via a courting service. I expect to have a substantial sum for these two equipments. So, this money, what do you think? Your cost of replacement? In the end, it would depend on the finances and, I believe, on the municipal council, given the way in which this city manages its administration. But the project is to take the funds received from the sale of these equipment and return them to future purchases by placing them on our reserve account in capital for the fire trucks, which will compensate the payments of the new equipment. This is the overall plan that I would like to see come true. This is the mechanism that allows us to move funds where they should go so that we can use them in this way. The way it works is that if we make a refund, it counts to compensate the initial cost of the vehicle if we deal with the same company for the exchange. Often this is not possible. They are not interested in it. If we sell it, these are unexpected revenues. They go to our general fund, then they are additional income for the city. And the city can decide to place them in capital reserve funds or use them to compensate taxes, depending on what they choose to do each year.

This ambulance was replaced and this one went to a local community that used it only this year. And now they replaced the truck that bought us with something new.

I suppose I have one last question concerning... If it's the end of life, what is its recovery value? I mean, what are they doing with this equipment which is a... Someone else could use it. Colleagues like ours, who have the means to replace their equipment, must do so according to national standards. Other communities are forced to make very, very difficult decisions. Can I talk about my own community of origin? We always use a 40-year-old fire truck, simply because we didn't have the means to replace it. The responsibility lies with the fire chief, which made me uncomfortable, and with the municipality, and with the municipality. We don't want to put this responsibility on the administration of the firefighters, the firefighters who use it, or the elected officials, by turning a machine that has exceeded its recommended lifespan There is still a value for the communities that cannot afford to replace it, they are ready to pay a decent price. The option of recovery was a good point that the municipal director raised, just for information. We tried to get a fire truck for which the manufacturer only offered us about $ 5,000. We sold it privately for $ 65,000. There is therefore a huge gap between the value of recovery offered and a private sale, during an auction or via a courier. The other problem you are faced with, for example, I worked in a small town where we recovered a large scale of occasion, which had a cracked chassis, as well as two other trucks with leaks of tanks and rust. When I did the inspection as a municipal administrator, I noticed that these vehicles were not safe. I don't know who delivered them a vignette of contract. They ended up being sent to Salvador, where this kind of thing does not pose any problem. But they are dangerous to use, and this is what happens in certain communities. Some take this risk, but it's a huge risk in terms of responsibility, especially when you know that the equipment is not safe.

We have also seen small groups, almost isolated, like in Maine for example. There is an island that works in the spring, in summer and in autumn, but that closes for the winter. And they have a very small volunteer service. Apparently, there are a few small communities of this type who are looking for this kind of equipment from a city like ours, because they are in pretty good shape, their use being minimal and their budget non-existent. This is enough for their needs for the few months of the year where they have inhabitants as fire protection.

So, have you finished John? Are you sure? Okay. I'm going to bounce back on what you just said because it made me think. When you say you get a good amount or a substantial amount, I look at the numbers here, talk about half, a third or a quarter. I mean less than a quarter. I mean, what is your idea of a decent amount? If you see what I mean, it could be anything. I mean, what I consider a decent amount may not be what you think, may not be what you think. I'm just trying to get an idea.

So for this one, it would be difficult for me to give you an estimate because I have never had the experience of selling a heavy rescue vehicle, whether in private or by a courting service. Recently, some pumps in good condition, like the few that we are going to sell, have reached the 100 ZL bar, which is a correct amount for a truck compared to the cost of an egg. I see what you think. Absolutely. This reduces the bill a little, not substantially, but you will not recover 50% or even 25% of the cost of an egg. A good plan is to try to draw at least the equivalent of a year of rent to lighten the burden of the taxpayers by covering this first payment thanks to the sale of the used equipment.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea to sell. I just wanted to understand the amounts in dollars you were talking about.

It's not proportional, like you get 50% of the...

Je pense aux vieux camions. De nos jours, on ne peut pas en trouver. Ce sont vraiment des épaves. Vous savez, un camion de l'an 2000, un Ford. Les gens paient 5, 6, 10 000 dollars pour ces vieux camions rouillés à cause des pièces ou autres. Donc, j'étais curieux de savoir si cela s'appliquait ici, mais d'après ce que vous me dites, ce n'est pas vraiment le cas.

Just a few years ago, the same truck we're talking about would have probably reached around $30,000 or $40,000 at most on this market. And now we're talking about $100,000. So there has certainly been an increase in the opportunity trucks market, but not at the pace of the new trucks and the inflation that we have seen on this new vehicle market.

And Mr. Mullen, this is more for you. Is there a way, I mean, they sell their equipment, they are the ones who have to replace their equipment. Is there a way to ensure or guarantee that the money we receive is reimbursed or not?

No, this does not exist in the city. You can do it, not in the commune. because it is an excessive receipt of unforeseen income that comes when they arrive. And it is then up to the council to recommend the withdrawal of this money on the non-affected salary to rent it for a specific purpose, and it is up to the voters to say yes or no.

Okay. I was just curious. I mean, I would prefer it to stay where it's supposed to stay.

Other municipalities do, but these are forms of municipal government that do not have this authority. So...

Very well, thank you. Sorry.

No problem. Any other questions about the rescue vehicle before we move on? I don't think so. Very good. So the next piece is our Pomp 3 engine. It's a 2016 model. It's a Pomp vehicle. A different style of fire engine. It's equipped with a pump and a water tank. The main intervention vehicle for our community is a Pomp. We are looking to replace it with a similar type of vehicle. We should pass a contract during the 2027 exercise to respect our replacement calendar, given the extended delivery deadlines we discussed. The estimated cost of replacement is just below 1.2 million, or 1.596 million, with, once again, a delivery deadline scheduled for 2 to 3 years, according to what they tell us. Cela nous permet de rester légèrement en avance sur le cycle de remplacement, recommandé par la NFPA. Comme vous pouvez le voir, ce camion a environ 10 ans aujourd'hui et en aura environ 13 au moment de la livraison prévue.

Donc, rien que pour les camions, on parle d'environ 7 millions.

Oui, je ne les ai pas additionnés. Il y a 4 pièces d'équipement, je crois. 2, 3.

So for the 4, it's around 7. Very good.

Questions about the pump 3 engine before moving on to another equipment? The next piece is from the same model year. They were bought practically at the same time. This is our scale 2. One of the two air engines in service in our city. We would try to replace it eventually by a central assembly scale, a similar aerial device but of a slightly different style. The reason would be to improve the maneuverability of the machine, while we see a development in restricted spaces. We need more maneuverable devices to serve these areas, while the city becomes denser, especially with the real estate projects planned for the future, etc. I just wanted to inform you that we are considering a second aircraft or the maintenance of two aerial scales. The one we will use to replace this equipment could be slightly different from what you see here. Once again, we would sign a contract for exercise 2027 in order to respect the calendar, in order to respect the calendar. This one costs nearly 2.5 million, with a delivery time of 2 to 3 years, even up to 4 years for an aircraft. They are longer to build than some other types of equipment.

Our current large scale, ordered last year, has a 4-year delay.

And one thing I wanted to mention and that I did not say at the beginning of the presentation is that the estimated prices for these equipment include an annual indexation clause for 4 years per year to ensure that in 4 years the price is not a bad surprise. I hope that each device that you advise us to buy and that the city will finally authorize will cost less than the amounts displayed on the table tonight. But we want to take into account the percentage of inflation that we could see before delivery. I had a question about it, please. So when we sign a contract for equipment, they can adjust the price afterwards? It's integrated into each contract. They do their best to maintain the initial cost. Agreed, Nain. But there is a clause stipulating that if the price of raw materials increases, as we have seen with the problems of customs rates, etc., they have the option or possibility to increase the price and to repercute it on the customer. Is there a kind of provided proof explaining why they do it? Is there a justification or is it fair? It's generally based on a percentage, so if the cost of... Just questions, I have a... Of course, absolutely, and these are all legitimate questions. The market is a bit volatile at the moment. So I expect to see price increases as we replace our devices. There is a percentage expected if the cost of raw materials exceeds, I don't know exactly how much, but there is a threshold, and if it is exceeded, they have the right to repercut this cost on the customer. Kate has a question.

My question is the following, if in the past 20 years, the prices have become too low, what are you doing? I'm getting out of these contracts. Because we don't earn enough.

there is an option to withdraw. This will generally cost you money and it would be up to the city to evaluate the cost-benefit ratio to know if it is more profitable to withdraw from this contract, to pay a penalty and not to continue the contractual obligation to buy this equipment. In general, these companies are looking to sell your personalized equipment to another service whose needs are close enough to your specifications, but they usually end up suffering a certain loss. It therefore affects this loss on the customer in the form of penalties. Are there such offers available? Is there such an offer available? You can buy standard equipment, absolutely. You can also join a program that allows a certain customization of a standard truck, but not much. For our needs in this city, where we have, in a way, caught up with our delay, and where we can respect a calendar, I would recommend customizing them according to our needs.

And this scale truck here is a standard model. And it didn't really meet our needs for this community appropriately. But the price was right when they bought it. So you run this risk when you buy a standard truck. For example, this truck was not built for New England. We therefore had a lot of problems with the computer sensors of the stabilizers that stabilize the truck when you lift the ladder in winter, in cold weather, in rainy weather and with the salt, because it was a serial truck built for the south, or you know, it was not built for New England, right? And so part of our personalization depends on the area and the region in which we live, right? Les choses que nous faisons et la façon dont nous construisons les camions sont basées sur le climat auquel nous devons faire face. Donc oui, vous pouvez acheter des camions de série. Je vais être honnête avec vous, nous avons examiné des camions de série, comme par exemple des ambulances de série, lorsque notre situation en matière d'ambulance était un peu difficile. Lorsqu'elle était un peu difficile. Elles sont difficiles à trouver. Les camions de série sont construits et vendus très rapidement de toute façon. Donc, l'économie n'est pas énorme et les délais restent assez longs. D'accord.

Excellent point, and the personalization of this type of vehicle starts from the design. In our area, in our region, we should use galvanized chassis stretchers to resist corrosion. In New England, we build battery tanks in stainless steel. All components located below, all footrests. And the different connections are stainless steel up to a certain point. on the curve of the truck along the bodywork. Thus, all these elements can be customized to precisely meet our needs. And as the deputy pointed out, we simply cannot meet all these needs with a serial truck. Unfortunately, this truck is probably one of the most expensive to maintain that we have and we pay the price of having bought a standard truck in the past.

We are currently faced with a corrosion problem on the doors of this truck because it was simply not designed for this climate.

Other questions on the scale number 2? Very good. Next slide, please. Engine 1. This is a 2019 model. It is scheduled for the fiscal year 2029, which will give it 10 years to complete the contract and respect the replacement calendar. Once again, it is a water pump equipped with a water pump. It is one of our main intervention vehicles for the city and will be replaced according to the calendar planned to respect national standards. And we estimate the cost of 1.3 million for the fiscal year 2029 for the replacement of this device. We have lost our remote control. Yes, we can't run the slides.

Roger.

This one was also a demonstration unit. File.

It wasn't this truck. However, we decided to try something new. With this truck, the way the pump is installed and works via the engine is different from others. It was a new technology at the time, we tried. I would not say that it worked well for our needs here in the city, because its functionality is simply not adapted to what we use in our community. There are other communities where the capacity of the pump as it works with the engine is better adapted to the type of fire they fight and so on. Simply not the case here. And because of that, the truck has become very tall. much higher than our other trucks, which are becoming more and more imposing. And so it was higher, especially for our small-sized members. So our new fire truck that arrives in September, the pipes are lower, aren't they? So they are more ergonomic in the hope of preventing water leaks and facilitating their use by the staff, among others.

Another important point that the agent just reminded me is that the standardization of the equipment is very important and we get it thanks to the customization, unlike the standard trucks. What we want is for our personnel to be able to, if a vehicle is sent in revision and it jumps into another, find the switches in the same place, the levers in the same place. To have this standardization on measure for the whole of our fleet is something that we want and the only way to achieve it is to go through the customization process and to ensure that all our trucks are designed in the same way.

Logic? You had a question? It may be a stupid question or not.

But you briefly mentioned the development of the city and the large number of projects in progress.

Given the amount, I would say relatively low, recovered during sales, is it fair to cover oneself and not necessarily sell, for example, the rescue truck 1 to keep it in reserve in the Hum fleet? Moreover, anticipating the growth of the city, maybe we will have 1000 more units and that we will have to start considering the expansion of fire services, I imagine, which would probably be accompanied by an extension of the fleets. I mean, is it logical to sell right away for only about 100 zeros when we know that a new one costs about 2 million? I mean, I don't know. I know that there are logistics issues related to storage, maintenance and everything else, but I don't know if this reflection was carried out in the idea that we know that we are planning these needs for in a few years. We could premeditate a little against that.

Just an idea.

And these are precisely the points I was going to address, maintenance and storage. These are the challenges we would have to face, whether the machine is in service or in reserve. We have always wanted to maintain it. There is therefore a cost associated with it, and frankly we are lacking space in the barracks. We are only replacing what we currently have in our car park. The ideal situation would be, yes, to have at least a reserve for each type of device you have. This is what is recommended, this is what the big cities that have the necessary space for this do. We keep a spare pump because it is the device that we use the most frequently. We have a two-scale system, so if it is in service, we always have another air vehicle. The ambulance is used less than its other types of devices. Therefore, it would probably not be logical for this city to keep it in reserve. It would not be taxable to keep it as a spare device.

Does anyone else have any questions before we move on to the facilities?

Not me. Very well. So let's move on to the facilities. There are two projects, I think, at this level. The first concerns the second barrack. To keep you posted, we are very grateful to have been able to answer the external problems of the second barrack. Will they deliver the equipment tomorrow? That's good. I'll join them there tomorrow. We are starting to receive equipment such as portable toilets and storage bins to mobilize the project and meet this need that has existed for a long time. We are therefore very enthusiastic about it. At the beginning, the project of the barracks 2 that we had proposed rose to almost 1 million dollars, including external and internal improvements. This amount has since been reduced from the cost allowed for external work, which was, I believe, from about 340,000 to 345,000 dollars. Improvements are not yet necessary inside and unfortunately this barracks was the first of the three to be built. You had the construction of two new barracks, then the renovation of the plant. Unfortunately, this was the first built and lessons were learned afterwards on what works and what does not work. Beaucoup de matériaux utilisés dans ce bâtiment étaient de qualité résidentielle. Hey, cher, ce n'étaient pas des matériaux commerciaux, ils ne durent pas. Dans un bâtiment ouvert et opérationnel, 24h24, SLJ67, SLJ71. If you use the sink of your bathroom 24 hours out of 24, you would probably use the tap and the other beautiful elements much faster than in a typical residence. We therefore see problems in bathrooms with counters and installations that rot. Bathroom fans are also of residential quality. They are not powerful enough to evacuate the steam from showers. So we have rust. And this terrible four-letter word, which is the mousetrap, which concerns us, which could potentially be... We must not only plan our current staff model, but also the future needs and determine whether these barracks can host these additional staff. Part of the remodeling consists of subdividing the existing space by creating modulable spaces that could serve as rooms, offices or study rooms in the future. One of the most important things in this barracks is the creation of a real air communication room. At the moment, all radio equipment generates a considerable amount of heat and humidity. For those who don't know the subject, but... These radios are permanently functioning. It's like having a computer, or a whole bunch of computers, locked in a room without any ventilation. You can imagine the heat and humidity that comes out of it. This is not good for sensitive electronic components. At the No. 1 barracks, at North Station, we have a room built appropriately, and this is what we are trying to do here to solve this problem. Did I forget something else we were planning to do?

Non, je pense que c'est tout simplement usé parce que, comme l'a dit le chef, c'est du matériel résidentiel. C'est de l'équipement résidentiel. C'est un produit résidentiel utilisé dans un espace commercial. Et à cause de cela, il a été mis à rude épreuve. Avec 3 à 6 et jusqu'à 9, 8 ou 7 personnes pendant le Covid au même moment. Toute la journée et tous les jours. C'est tout simplement usé. It was built in the same way as we would build our house, wouldn't we? But we wouldn't put a domestic fan in the showers and toilets of a sports club, and yet there are two showers and two toilet cabins over there, no? It's simply unsuitable. Some of the materials used for plumbing were not of commercial quality, which caused us leak problems. Fortunately, Dave Wallally and the technical services were able to track these leaks, identify their origin and repair these problems. But we spend our time running after these problems. We have had problems with humidity in the corridor before with the CVC system because it is not powerful enough to extract humidity when the hot air of the garage where the trucks meet the living space given their proximity. There is no isolation factor, it is only a block. There are therefore problems with humidity on which we have worked with UNSystems that the city uses to try to solve this. It's just an accumulation of different things that have made surface I have a question, because you talked about it. I heard you say that

In terms of space, we don't have enough space. This makes me think that in the long term, probably in the near future, I'm not talking in the long term, I'm talking in the short term with all the buildings, you will need more space to park more trucks. Which buildings can be enlarged depending on the terrain and the rest? And if this station number 2 was able to be enlarged, let's say an additional garage door, n'est-ce pas ? Gone Iwajikin ? Quand vous faites les travaux à l'intérieur, voulez-vous en faire quelque chose de permanent ? Dès maintenant, ou préférez-vous créer des espaces temporaires plus petits pour pouvoir les reconfigurer lorsque vous devrez ajouter ce qui est nécessaire ? Or do I have to understand that we will end up having to consider something else? Because I heard what you said and it doesn't come out of my head. I'm sorry.

I can talk about it because I know. And I'm just trying to be optimistic. You know, if you are going to invest a certain amount to repair something that you will have to completely redo in two years. Do you see what I'm trying to...

So this station, according to what I was told, and again in 2006, The code and everything else are different now, but this station was designed so that we can add a third base on the left by looking at the station. And they said there was enough green space between the wall on the right and the alley to add two other extension rooms. Now that just pushes you against the alley. And I don't know what the code is planning for that now, does it? But it was the intention during the construction of this station that we could extend in both directions on each side. To answer your question about the creation of temporary spaces, it is difficult because everything is made of brick walls. So, you know, it is quite frozen in the state. Currently, this barracks has four individual rooms on one side of the corridor and on the other side, a kind of double room without central door. But with two access doors in the idea of ​​high power, to make two additional rooms. So in the current state, without even enlarging the right side of the barracks, we could add two rooms to get to six bedroom-type rooms, if we want, without having to extend this side there. And again, we could extend to the left to add a third closet, if you want, from the front to the back. When we made the first estimates of costs for this barracks, for the whole project, probably three or four years ago, we didn't even include this third rail, because the cost to add it was really high. This implies reviewing the design of the roof, the CVC systems, the rail, and everything else. The cost is more important.

And not to go too far, that's why we need to have available impact revenues. I address those at the top. I know it's not him, it's the municipal council. And I'm not part of the municipal council. But it's, you know, one of the reasons.

And the first barracks was built in a similar way. It has a green space on the left of the fence, which in theory, we could, once again, without knowing the new regulations on the distances between buildings and roads, but in theory, it was built with this space on the left and right of the corridor. This barracks has four rooms, then two individual rooms, smaller, one of which or both are currently used as office spaces.

So, would two extra shutters be enough to face the potential growth of the next five to seven years? Two extra shutters or two extra rooms?

Two extra shutters.

Well, I suppose that the rooms will match the shutters. I mean, it's mandatory, isn't it? So what I'm saying is that two extra shutters would mean two additional vehicles, right? Well, I'm trying to... For example, in this barracks,

If we had the necessary personnel, we could arm an ambulance and a machine from this barracks by converting this space into two rooms. So that would give us enough room for the rooms. There is already a van, an ambulance and a forest vehicle on site without having to add a bay. Pour vous donner une proportion de personnes par véhicule, vous pourriez le faire dès maintenant avec des ajouts intérieurs minimes en créant cet espace de couchage et vous pourriez loger ces deux équipes. Vous pourriez loger cinq personnes là-bas.

Très bien. Mais j'ai cru vous entendre dire que nous aurions besoin de plus d'équipements.

Isn't it more logical to not necessarily enlarge existing facilities when we have neighborhoods where we can't intervene quickly? That's what's normally happening, isn't it, in most communities? It would therefore be better to take care of these non-covered areas before starting to build larger barracks to cover the same area.

Sean, I didn't hear the very beginning of what you said. I'm sorry.

We have neighborhoods where we can't intervene in the standard 4-minute time. So it's not about building larger barracks. It's about having smaller barracks in the right places.

Okay.

Because we don't have any service there, you know.

That's what I was trying to understand. Where are we going with the money and for the future? Not only... I'm trying to be...

Most communities have an installation management plan. We don't have it. That's what's closest to it.

Well, thank you for doing that.

If you look at the maximum development of your community and where this growth will be, you determine when your barracks should be, their size and the type of service they must provide, as well as all the other government services that we offer, which we do not currently have.

Which would seem logical to be able to plan and budget accordingly and not have these peaks in your budget, but keep it stable. Yes, I understand. Okay, thank you. Sorry.

And honestly, the reality for this barracks and station 1 is that you can enlarge the building, but the other functions are not big enough to accept it. The kitchen is not big enough and you're not going to enlarge it, you're not going to enlarge the bathroom, the laundry room, things like that. So you can enlarge the barracks, but the other functions will remain the same size and will not be adapted.

and simply by the way you described the residential areas in a commercial space and everything else. You haven't opened the walls yet, so you don't know what's in there.

Fortunately, the walls are blocked, so we didn't open them, Jeff. Just the ceilings. Just the ceilings, Jeff. Very good. That reassures me. Just the ceilings.

We just don't want to get into another one. Renovation. Je peux comprendre pourquoi il y a des inquiétudes. Compte tenu des circonstances récentes. Je ne voulais même pas prononcer ce mot, mais c'est important. C'est sûr, je ne veux même pas installer de ventilateur résidentiel dans mes propres salles de bain. Donc, il vaut toujours mieux déplacer plus de pieds cubes d'air par minute que nécessaire, plutôt que moins. Absolutely. But unfortunately, when we look at the finishes around the lights, they are all rusty. The fan itself, the cover plate is all rusty. We can see that the ventilation is simply not enough for this building. Everything was sub-dimensioned and of residential quality and it is time to seriously consider modernizing these systems.

May I ask a question? When was the construction?

2006. Thank you. So 20 years. And you're going to call on an entrepreneur who knows how to build. according to commercial quality standards. As we have done for the outside project, for any project of this size and this size, we are making an offer. Entrepreneurs who submit must prove their experience on similar projects by the past. They must demonstrate that they have worked on commercial buildings and that they know the systems that we want to replace. This is part of the qualification request.

and then check with their clients if they have done a good job.

The references are part of it. They will include reference projects with contact coordinates. It is up to us to follow up. The entrepreneur that we are currently using for external renovations and improvements, his communication is excellent so far. There are new updates, an incredible communication. One of the best entrepreneurs with whom I have worked in my career so far and I expect the same quality of work and materials that we have chosen to make sure that there are extended guarantees and that their high-end commercial products will last so as not to find ourselves in this situation for a very long time. Any other questions about station 2? Very well. The next project is our Zetron system. Here is a brief overview of what it is. It is essentially a series of electric solenoids that allow to control the functions of the building. Currently, when a call arrives, the distributors can activate lights in the barracks to alert the teams. Tonalities and sound signals are broadcast via loudspeakers to warn them of calls. Each vehicle or intervention barracks has its own unique alert tone. We could do much more with this system, but it requires level-up. If we improve it, we could control all the doors of the three barracks directly, directly from the distribution room. So if a truck leaves for an intervention and the door is not closed, the distributors can do it. We can control access to the buildings through the doors. We can alert the teams individually without asking for others. This is part of what I want to put in place for a complete health and well-being program. The current problem is that all our firefighters must listen to the radio traffic, are awakened and remain awakened all night even when they are not concerned by the calls. We can only alert the teams that must intervene without interrupting the others who do not need to move. This fits perfectly with our health and well-being programs, while we are trying to improve the work experience of our employees. As we know, and as it has been documented, interrupted sleep cycles of firefighters are a major cause of health problems in this profession. Regarding the Zetron leveling, have I forgotten to include the cost? I don't think I put my time on the slide. My apologies. 270. 270, over. Yes, I knew it was close to 300 000. This will cover the three barracks and will constitute a complete level-up towards their brand new platform. The other problem with Zetron, as with most software, is that they have a support end date. And we're getting there quickly. The current system is no longer in charge. It's very good as long as it works, but in the event of a breakdown, there will be no more assistance, unless we switch to the new system. Questions about Zetrone? Did I forget something about it?

I can tell you that in the beginning, we didn't have an alert system. The call went to the radio and we had to leave immediately. But this alert system has become a kind of norm in fire stations. This allows teams to know what to expect before even intervening. Cela leur laisse le temps de rejoindre les véhicules, de se préparer et de partir, évitant ainsi tout retard dans l'intervention, contrairement à l'époque où tout se faisait par radio au moment de l'appel. Et comme l'a souligné le chef, l'aspect santé et bien-être est primordial. As a former battalion commander, I can tell you that even if we don't go out on every medical call or every service intervention at night, the lights are on every time, which disturbs sleep because of the lighting and noise. So, in terms of health and well-being, while we integrate more initiatives into our service, this is part of it. Integrating.

Another important element concerns our future demands for subsidies and our ISO evaluation. This contributes to our P25 conformity in terms of communications and radio. These federal requirements place us in a favorable position to obtain funding once we conform. In addition, regarding the ISO evaluation, this has a direct link with our intervention times. Our departure times in this service are phenomenal. This is largely due to the Zetron pre-alert system. We do not necessarily have all the details of the call immediately. The distributors do not have them right away, but they launch a pre-alert to the units that must intervene. They are usually on the road in 30 seconds, even less than a minute. They then receive the additional information while they are already on the road, getting into the machines. This system plays a crucial role in our time of intervention by maintaining them at the level or below national standards. It helps us justify economies thanks to a better evaluation. ISO is to support our future demands for subsidies, in particular to improve our interoperability and our communication equipment in order to obtain, we hope, federal funding. Well, let's move on to the equipment. The first project concerns the breathable air compressor located in our central barracks. It arrives at the end of operational life. It is an important equipment. because it allows us to fill the breathable air and the bottles we carry on our backs when we intervene in a fire. It is therefore absolutely essential. It is limited in what it can do, while we are planning to replace all our respiratory devices in the near future. This is precisely the next slide of the next project. So it fits perfectly in this slide. We plan to switch to a higher pressure or to a higher PSI bottle, which allows to reduce the size and weight. Once again, this is part of the health and well-being programs of our firefighters. This filling station cannot withstand this higher pressure and this new technology, because it is an old technology. It is therefore a two-fold project. We must replace it in anticipation of the future replacement of all our autonomous respiratory devices. This is a project for the exercise 2029. The total cost, including installation at the barracks, is a little over $ 236,000. And we currently have a request for subsidies in progress for this. It would be fantastic if we could get it and only pay 10% of the cost of replacing this equipment. We should know more in September, but it is an important project to consider, without counting on this federal funding. It would be a good thing if it happened, but we can't count on it. That's why it became the subject of a grant request and presented you as an improvement of the immobilizations. I have a question about grants. Do you use them?

Do you call a grant editor or do you manage everything internally?

Well, there is a lieutenant, Chris Lambie. We will certainly give him the credit he deserves. He has done a huge job in the last two years and has done most of the preparatory work for the two subsidies submitted this year. One concerns the air-breathing compressor and the other, the supply of staff, which we discussed recently during a meeting of the municipal council. He and I will work closely together to submit the supply request. you can call a grant editor. It's up to the city to pay the initial fees and you can include the cost of a professional editor in the request. If you are lucky enough to get the funding, you can remunerate this editor. The problem is that if you don't get the federal funding, the city must always remunerate the editor and you remain eligible for these funds.

Alors j'ai une question un peu folle à propos du système Zétron, du compresseur et des systèmes RapidPak. En gros, à quelle fréquence est-ce que la technologie change ? C'est tous les deux ans ? Tous les cinq ans ? L'écart est-il important ou réduit ? Je me demandais justement combien de temps cela dure ? Je veux dire, vous dites que ça va durer longtemps, mais peu importe si la technologie évolue sans cesse et n'est plus supportée par personne. Voyez-vous ce que je veux dire ? Je ne suis pas contre tout ça. J'essaie juste de comprendre ce domaine dans lequel je n'évolue pas.

That's an excellent question. For Zetron, if we move on to a new technology, we do not expect to see a revolutionary technology appear in two or three years. We expect what happens several years before they update us. Five to seven years. I would say more than ten years. More than ten years. Regarding the ARIs we are talking about, a new national standard is published every four years. This does not mean that it becomes obsolete. Your current equipment does not become obsolete. You can always use it during its recommended life span of 15 years, but the standard is updated every 4 years. Recently, they have increased the pressure in PSI for filling the bottles, reaching this higher level that we have talked about. I don't see them going much higher than what they are currently doing. They already reach 6 euros per PSI. It is a high pressure for this size of bottle. The higher the pressure, the more you have to strengthen the thickness of the wall of the bottle to hold it. We end up with nothing more to gain because the thicker the wall, the heavier the equipment and they try to keep it as light as possible. Je pense donc que nous atteignons un juste milieu où les mises à jour continueront, mais le risque que la station de remplissage devienne obsolète à cause d'une pression plus élevée ne se produira pas.

Et juste pour que vous sachiez où je voulais en venir, vaut-il mieux le faire maintenant ? Vaut-il mieux attendre encore quelques années pour avoir le dernier équipement à la mode ? Voyez-vous ce que je veux dire ?

C'est ce que j'avais en tête.

And for your information, I will never propose something that will be obsolete in a year or two. It has absolutely no tax sense for me. So it's not something I'm looking at. The thing that drives me crazy is the laptop. When you buy one, it's a bit like a car, right? We get out of the dealership and it loses its value, becomes obsolete, etc. As for these equipment here, with such an investment in capital, if I plan something, which will change in a year or two, we will postpone this project for a year or two, waiting for this new technology to come out.

Thank you for that, I appreciate it. Yes, no problem.

And I think the other key point, especially with the equipment that integrates a computer technology, is maintenance contracts, right? For example, for the etrons that we had for 15 years, we do not... s'entretenions pas. C'était une décision prise, nous ne faisions pas la maintenance. Si nous l'avions fait, je pense que nous les aurions fait durer plus longtemps, non, mais nous ne l'avons pas fait. Et nous sommes arrivés à un point où nous nous sommes dit, oh non, It's the end of life and we haven't done X, Y and Z. So I think the key, especially with the Zetron system and even the air compressors, the respiratory devices, is that they are reviewed every year for a specific reason. We have maintenance contracts for a reason. And it is so that when it comes to technological products, they are revised and updated according to the technological standards in force at the time of the revision.

Exactly, you pay like $100 for an installed chip that could make it last a few more years, rather than doing 100. Now you have to buy a whole equipment.

Or you have 7 years of chips that have not been installed and you have to, you can not, you know.

That's what I say. It seems to me, according to what I often hear, that the city, as far as buildings are concerned, by the past, I am grateful to you, to manage it by the past, they were just ... Comment dit-on déjà ? Économe de bout de chandelle, mais dépensé au total. Comme s'il ne réfléchissait pas vraiment, il pensait juste à l'immédiat. C'est l'option la moins chère et la meilleure. Au lieu de se dire, vous savez, oui, on va peut-être payer un peu plus cher maintenant, mais ce sera mieux sur le long terme.

Thank you. Sorry. No problem. A few more important points concerning this project. It is pushed back to the fiscal exercise 32. It is at this time that this equipment will reach the end of its lifetime according to the national standards and recommendations. There is an impact in the capital reserve account for the fire equipment. We put aside money specifically for this effect during the mandate last year. We hope to continue to add funds as we approach the replacement of this equipment, in order to have a substantial contribution, if we want, on the side. And the real impact will not be a huge cost of 1.1 million dollars at that time. We will have an important sum to dedicate to this purchase when the time comes. That's smart. Other questions about our ARIs and quick intervention kits? Very well, the following project concerns the Stryker ambulance carriages. The request is for the purchase of three of them. They are the oldest carriages in our equipment park. The project includes a full service plan and a 7-year guarantee, which I can affirm with certainty covers the cost of a repair per year. And can I tell you that we use these service contracts? Yes, we do. The cost to repair them is exorbitant. So paying for this extended guarantee plan at the time of purchase is really worth it. They also come to carry out annual preventive maintenance for free under this plan. And the division of emergency medical services at the state level wants you to maintain your equipment like this. This is the right thing to do for citizens to make sure that they are always in service and work properly. And in the long term, it is a real economy for the contributors to proceed in this way.

It must help with insurance costs, doesn't it?

It doesn't really have an impact on insurance. This guarantees that as a service, we do all we can to maintain this license and be able to provide the service to citizens without interruption or stop time. And at the same time, we also maximize our revenues by keeping our vehicles in service and not out of service. So it doesn't really have an impact on insurance tariffs, but there are many other positive impacts to proceed in this way. The total for the three grills is $ 131,000. And here is the list of all our STRIKER equipment from our... What is the word I want to use? Our stock management system, if you want. There is a column right next to the red numbers with all 7. The recommended life span for this equipment is 7 years and on the left of this one. All in red are the equipment that we are trying to replace. They have already far exceeded their life span. And the problem is that Stryker will no longer take care of this. I think it's this year, during this fiscal exercise, that they will stop the maintenance of these barges. Car le contrat de service a expiré un axe. Nous avions souscrit un plan de service de 7 ans. Nous l'avons prolongé d'un an à la fois, ce qui revient plus cher qu'un paiement initial. Mais à un moment donné, ils disent que l'équipement est trop vieux. Il y a trop de risques de responsabilité. Nous ne l'en entretiendrons plus. C'est là que nous en sommes avec cet équipement. So we have to keep five crates when buying new ambulances. The good news is that we buy new crates that are included with it. But for years, we bought ambulances and recovered the old crate to put it in the new one. This is what led us to this situation. In the future, when we replace the ambulances, the plan plans to replace the railcar by including its cost in the credit-buy lines of the vehicles. And we will no longer come back to you with this demand for capital once we have caught up with our delay. You can see that this is a very recurring theme throughout the evening. Finally, the last project concerns infrastructure. There is only one project under this heading related to our emergency communication system at the city level. We have studied the question internally and less to erase the system to start from scratch, which would represent a project of several million dollars for an independent study, the acquisition of land, the installation of all the antennas in the right places and the guarantee of a total coverage. The most sensible solution currently is to modernize the site of the radio antenna of Asht Street. At the moment, this site is only a reception system. It receives radio transmissions but cannot broadcast them. It does not broadcast them to the outside. This poses problems to our agents on the ground to receive communications from the dispatcher. Important updates regarding the incidents to which they respond. A lack of coverage in certain areas of the city. One of the most notable examples is the difficulty of joining our teams at the Parkland Medical Center in Derry. They spend a good part of their daily time there, as you can imagine. And when they are back in service at the hospital and we have another intervention for them, we have to be able to join them. This leads to either a response delay, or if we cannot join them, another ambulance must intervene for our call. We are losing revenue and it is not beneficial for the patient to delay these intervention delays. The cost of the project is therefore $ 22,400 to modernize this tower, which will strengthen security, not only for the fire department, but also for the police and the public works department, which also uses this radio system. And if you go to the next slide, you will see some graphics. This is a thermal map of the current radio coverage without the Dash Street site, which serves as an emission site. Moving on to the next slide, if you look at the northeast corner and towards Derry, you can see the green and yellow changing. This is the increase in radio coverage in these areas. The blue corresponds to mediocre coverage. The red corresponds to excellent coverage. And moving on to orange, yellow and green, these are intermediate areas. There will be a substantial improvement of communications by modernizing this tower so that it becomes a site of broadcast and reception. Do you have any questions about this? You said you reduced the initial estimate. What did you remove from the project? In fact, nothing. We didn't have any figures at the start. We knew that we wanted to carry out this project, but our supplier was late to tell us the real cost of leveling. So I just put a provisional estimate. Okay. And when we received the real figures for the cost of modernization of the site, we reached $22,000. I have a question about maps. It seems to extend your coverage area, but wouldn't it increase some red and yellow areas as well? Or have you not entered this level of detail? Are you talking about other sites that exist?

Yes, because you get... Look at the right of the main red area. Go down.

To give a little more context, we have several antenna sites throughout the city, and many are directional antennas. They are oriented in a certain direction because they would interfere with each other if they were pointed to each other. Each site therefore covers different areas, and we are only talking about the modernization of a single site to correct its known gaps in this particular area. Overall, the coverage is good in the other areas, with some very low shade zones. But by analyzing the complete system for the price of the installation at the level of Ash Street, we get the best return on investment by improving the coverage of the system.

This corner of Rockingham Road, from the border of Deartown to exit 5, is one of our worst coverage areas. You can be in front of one of these houses on Rockingham Road, on this corner, talk on your radio and not hear the interlocutor. Not true. You are outside. You are not inside a building or anything like that. So that would greatly help this area that is cruelly lacking radio coverage.

So, all in all, for everything you have proposed, we are in a funnel of 9 to 10. I think we are around 11 or 12 million for all the projects.

And it's all understood. It's all understood.

All at the same time. And we're not talking about doing everything at the same time.

Exactly. Some elements have failed. As you have seen, the years have been spread where we could. Unfortunately, I had to make a lot of requests from the start for the 2027 exercise in order to catch up with our delay. In the future, things will be much better planned and we hope to have the support of this committee as well as the municipal council, etc. Capital planning is important.

It would be good to see things this way, to say, okay, 2027 will be 5 million, it will cover AB, C and D, 2028 will be 3 million, it will cover G and H. You see what I mean? Like a kind of projection. so that the committees, because people change all the time and they don't remember what others have said or done. And for the budget officials, I'm sure they would like to see that, year after year, to be able to follow. Even for me, it helps me to see it clearly, to say to myself, yes, over the next five years, we are planning 10 to 12 million for the moment, sharp, but here is how it will go.

And that's what I'm used to doing. There is a spreadsheet that has been elaborated and that shows the layout at the city level and I believe that the financial exercises were associated with it. Okay, they have been elaborated and scaled. And unfortunately, as I mentioned, our projects seem very focused on the first year and once we have caught up with our delay, they will be much better distributed. We will have a few projects this year, a few projects this year and we will have the purchase of a new vehicle. will be replaced in 12 years, and it will appear in 12 years.

And we want all these projects, as M. Mahuland said, so that they are registered so that we can request subsidies, because we can show that we are developing in this direction. This shows the progress and it helps us. So it's a good thing to have it, but I think just a little note just before your questions, simply explaining how it would work, would be really useful. That's all.

Yes, no problem. I would be happy to do it in the future. It would look terrible this year because it would show that the 2027 exercise, a big package of projects on one side and a few on the other. In the future, it will be much more organized. I promise you.

I just... I know you run after time and it's hard.

Yes, it's not funny. But unfortunately, when we report projects year after year, it's the situation in which we find ourselves. I understand.

Does anyone else have other questions? All right, it's up to you. Very good. Great. Very good. I think we're ready, gentlemen. It was fantastic. I really appreciate the time you've devoted to it. With that, we only have a few points left in the order of the day. One of them is the approval of the verbal trial of the 21st of July meeting. Does anyone have any updates to bring to this verbal trial? Something that caught your eye? I therefore ask for a motion to approve the verbal trial.

I propose to adopt the verbal trial as it is.

I ask for a second support. Approved. Approved. Who are they? Appell Nomina. Appell Nomina. Appell Nomina. Vote for Appell Nomina. For Paul. For Jeff Penta. For Kevin Gray. For Javany. Vernon. We have the result. Does anyone have other things to talk about? I suppose there are no comments from the public. You are welcome if you have something else in mind, but I suppose it's... Probably not. On this, this brings us finally to our update. That's all for tonight everyone. Thank you very much. I appreciate the time that everyone has devoted.

Sorry. A motion to raise the session and a second support...

Je me suis précipité. Qui est pour votre rappel nominal ? Je vote pour aussi. Je n'ai jamais fait ça.

Moi, c'est Paul.

Moi, Jeff Penta. Salut, Kevin Gray. Moi, Giovanni Veroni. Très bien. Merci beaucoup. C'est pour le...