Residents will have say in town hall, emergency services facility

Local residents will soon get the chance to voice their opinions and provide input into a proposed $12-million facility that will house police, fire and town services under one roof in downtown Sackville.
A public forum is set for next Wednesday night (May 6) at 7 p.m. at the Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre, a time when residents can learn more about the project and offer feedback into the design of the building.
"This will be a really good chance for the public to come in and see what we're planning and ask any questions they might have," said Warren Maddox, Sackville's director of community economic development.
Maddox said the evening will begin with a presentation from Celtic Consulting, the firm the town hired to manage the project, to give the public a better idea of the plans for the new combined police station, fire hall and municipal offices.
"We want to provide people with the basic concept of what we want to do. Then the public will be able to provide input into what could go into the building or give us their feedback for the outside design."
Maddox says he's aware the public hasn't had much opportunity yet to voice concerns over this new facility but points out there will be plenty of opportunity to do so before construction begins next spring.
"I really see this as the beginning of the design phase, not the end," says Maddox.
He says the public was never meant to be excluded from the process and pointed out town officials were awaiting more details on the project before being able to fully and properly answer residents' questions.
Maddox says town council and staff welcome everyone's suggestions and will be looking for ideas on how best to design the exterior of the building so that it represents the community.
"We really have to look at it in terms of what it does to the streetscape and how it fits into Sackville."
Maddox also says the town is proud of the fact that this building will be built to higher energy-efficiency standards, most notably to a designation of Leed Silver under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System.
"Given the status we're going to achieve with it and given the fact that we're merging four buildings into one, there's a lot of up sides to this," he says. "It's going to be an incredibly energy efficient building."