A $16-million disaster-resistant building is being proposed to house and keep intact Greater Victoria’s public-safety infrastructure. The facility would help first-responders to continue operating with minimal interruption during a major emergency.
The board behind the region’s emergency communications system is asking its shareholders to support and help fund the plan.
The Capital Region Emergency Service Telecommunications (CREST) system’s board has already approved entering into an agreement to buy a $1.8-million plot of land in Langford and is seeking approval from its 20 shareholders, which include the region’s municipalities, emergency services and the province to go ahead with design and building.
“As we have seen over the last few years, as a result of climate change, windstorms and wildfires and atypical events such as floods, tornados and earthquakes are on the rise. The world is becoming increasingly hazardous and there is more reliance than ever on the first responders,” said CREST chair Tim Morrison.
“It’s critical that our region’s public safety technology and infrastructure remains intact and operational every day.”
CREST general manager Gord Horth said the idea is to allow the non-profit organization to consolidate all computer servers and spare equipment in one safe and secure place, put its personnel in a building that can withstand a disaster and allow it to move its master site from the West Shore RCMP offices.
Horth said the protection of spare equipment and operational infrastructure is essential given replacement parts and gear can often be weeks if not months away. “You can’t just pick this stuff up.” He noted this kind of security means first responders would be able to continue to operate safely and effectively without interruption in the event of a disaster.
Horth said over the next several months the organization will make the rounds to all its shareholders explaining the decision, answering questions and justifying the cost. CREST requires two-thirds of its shareholders to approve the project.
The estimated cost of about $16 million would be funded by borrowing from the Municipal Finance Authority.
The board believes the financing costs will not require additional investment from municipalities and other shareholder agencies.
Horth said the hope is they will be able to tender a contract by next fall and have construction completed in 2024.
In its most recent strategic plan, the CREST board identified the vulnerability of the organization’s infrastructure and technology in the event of a major disaster as its top risk. Currently, operations, infrastructure and master site are in separate locations, and only the master site is in a structure designed to withstand a major seismic event.
The plan already has support among fire and police departments in the region.
Michael Burgess, Saanich fire chief, said ensuring first responder agencies and personnel can deliver critical life safety services during a major emergency or disaster is essential.
“To that end, the CREST system is the foundation to our success. Having our telecommunications infrastructure located in a purpose-built, post-disaster building is simply an emergency management best practice,” he said. “This project is a strategic investment and will benefit the region and its residents for many years to come.”
Victoria Police Chief Del Manak said the region made “a smart investment in recently updating and modernizing the CREST emergency communications platform. For first responder agencies, like the Victoria Police Department, protecting that investment is vital.”
Last year CREST completed a four-year $24.5-million upgrade that moved the system onto a fully digital platform that meets world standards for public safety.
The phased-in upgrade included new transmission towers, refurbishing older ones, and programming and deploying 3,000 new radios for the 50 emergency response agencies in the region.
The new structure would be on just under an acre of land at the City Gate site off McCallum Road in Langford across from Costco.
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