City spends $35,000 on new office furniture at Kingston Fire and Rescue

The city spent $35,000 to renovate its emergency control headquarters at Kingston Fire and Rescue.

It’s a place where civic leaders and bureaucrats gather to co-ordinate emergency response plans as in the spring flooding or major fire events.

“In terms of our community partners, they need a space where they can come and spend prolonged periods of time with us as we deal with critical events in our community,” explained fire Chief Shawn Armstrong.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "In terms of our community partners, they need a space where they can come and spend prolonged periods of time with us as we deal with critical events in our community," explained fire Chief Shawn Armstrong.

But is the $35,000 upgrade, replacing 15-year-old furniture and fixtures money well spent? The chief says it’s to meet provincial accessibility requirements and to install high-tech equipment that you can’t see.

Councillors never approved this contract. They didn’t have the authority — it was delegated to senior staff who can approve budget line items under $50,000 without council’s endorsement.

But is that threshold a little too high?

Not so, according to the mayor who says he has full confidence in his staff’s ability to manage how tax dollars are spent.

“What matters to me most as mayor is more, what’s the total envelope? Are we staying within budget? Are we following our policies and ultimately, are we respecting the taxpayer, keeping to make sure that tax bracket is no higher than inflation,” said Mayor Bryan Paterson.

The fire chief says having a state-of-the-art command centre located in the Fire and Rescue office on O’Connor Drive is worth the investment.