The town of Sackville and the RCMP has entered into a 25-year lease agreement that will provide space for the RCMP’s rural, municipal and highway patrol sections in the soon to be constructed town hall and emergency services building.
The agreement, which was signed on Monday by Mayor Estabrooks and New Brunswick Commanding Officer Wayne Lang, has been six years in the making, going back to the previous town council.
“This is a great day for Sackville,” said Mayor Pat Estabrooks. “Currently both the Town of Sackville and the RCMP and municipal emergency services occupy buildings that are not up to code and are in need of extensive upgrades.”
In addition to the RCMP units, the new $12M building will house the town’s municipal offices, council chambers and the volunteer fire department.
Space in the new building will replace the two different RCMP detachments that are currently in operation in Sackville and allow the RCMP members who police outside of the town’s limit to share common-use space and resources with the RCMP’s municipal members.
“Often there can be a connection with what goes on inside and outside town limits, having Sackville municipal and Sackville rural RCMP co-located will enhance collaboration and increase information sharing, making the area safer,” Lang said.
The new arrangement will also be more cost effective.
“Having these additional 14 police officers in our building will not only reduce the Town’s cost for the building but will also have the benefit of improving the quality of policing for our residents,” Estabrooks said.
Inspector Marlene Snowman, local District, emphasized the improvements to the policing in Sackville in the form of increased consistency of services and increased communication between rural and municipal police. There will also be cells on site, saving time and money on transporting prisoners elsewhere. “Its such an integration of services,” she said, “we also work very closely with the volunteer fire department. Its all about building relationships,” Snowman said.
Speaking on behalf of council, Coun. Margaret Tusz-King said, “We are really excited about this project, and it is part of an investment in the future of our community.”
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities describes the building as, “a very good example of an innovative institutional inter-governmental arrangement.”
Construction on the new building is expected to begin in early August with a move in date of late 2011.
