Jasper鈥檚 RCMP detachment could be relocated next to the Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre within the next 5 years, according to RCMP Sgt. Rick Bidaisee.
He made the comments during a committee-of-the-whole meeting Oct. 25.
According to Bidaisee, the RCMP is working with Parks Canada to rezone two plots of land east of the Sawridge Inn from 鈥渃ommunity reserve鈥� to 鈥渋nstitutional,鈥� a requirement before a new police station could be built.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a work in progress,鈥� said Bidaisee, explaining it鈥檚 only a proposal at this time.
Parks Canada also confirmed the plans.
鈥淧arks Canada can confirm that discussions have commenced to rezone a piece of property in Jasper鈥檚 east end to accommodate the RCMP,鈥� wrote Joseph Zebrowski, a communication officer with Parks Canada.
According to the RCMP鈥檚 plans, the old detachment will be decommissioned once the new detachment is built, which could still be three to five years away.
One of the major areas of concern during the discussion involved housing.
According to Bidaisee, the new police station will not include housing despite the current detachment offering barracks-style housing for two of its officers.
鈥淭he RCMP is trying to get away from housing,鈥� said Bidaisee. 鈥淲e do have some detachments that still require housing, but that number is starting to be reduced and Jasper is one of those situations.鈥�
He said the RCMP also has a limited budget when it comes to building new detachments and barracks-style housing makes it difficult to attract experienced officers to Jasper.
鈥淚t鈥檚 basically a bachelor suite, more or less,鈥� Bidaisee said, about the barracks-style housing.
鈥淚t limits our ability to attract experienced members and it limits our ability to attract family-type membership coming to the detachment.鈥�
Several councillors expressed their concern about the impact the loss of housing could have on the town鈥檚 tight housing supply.
鈥淚鈥檓 not convinced that any loss of housing of any kind in our community is acceptable,鈥� said Coun. Dwain Wacko. 鈥淚 understand your problems, but I can not endorse what you are proposing.鈥�
Coun. Gilbert Wall shared similar feelings.
鈥淔rom my perspective having the barracks-style accommodation available is still liberating those two spaces from the community at large so it鈥檚 important,鈥� said Wall.
鈥淭he problems that we have in this community in terms of accommodation, normally two doesn鈥檛 seem to make a difference, but here it does.鈥�
Mayor Richard Ireland said the proposed location made sense operationally, because it was closer to the highway and not in a residential area, but he also had concerns about the loss of housing.
鈥淔or all of our needs we have limited land and a hard boundary around our town so although we can understand the need for a new detachment building, the community itself doesn鈥檛 want to lose more housing and it can鈥檛 afford to lose anymore land,鈥� said Ireland.
He also said he would like the municipality to be involved when the old detachment is decommissioned because the community has a stake in what happens to that land.
鈥淚t could be important to have it zoned residential reserve rather than community reserve if it comes back into the community,鈥� said Ireland.
Bidaisee acknowledged council鈥檚 concern and said he would share the information with the RCMP鈥檚 asset management department.
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
