By Chad Ingram

Minden Hills township has purchased part of the former Walker’s Auto Repair property along Highway 35 in Minden from Haliburton County.

At their Oct. 8 meeting Minden Hills councillors passed resolutions to purchase part of the property on which the upper tier constructed its new EMS base as well as establish a stormwater management agreement with its parent municipality.

Haliburton County purchased the five-acre property in 2010 for $385000 and spent hundreds of thousands more extending Minden Hills’s water and sewer system under Highway 35 to service the site.

Minden will pay $362776 for the property.

The deal represents half of the property acquisition and serving costs.

It also gives the county first right of refusal should Minden Hills decide to sell the property.

Minden Hills eventually intends to construct a new fire hall on the property although it’s not clear when that might happen.

The deal has been in the works for years.

During the previous council term Minden Hills and Haliburton County partnered on a number of preliminary studies as they investigated the feasibility of a joint fire hall/EMS base on the site.

Ultimately the county which for years had been leasing space for its ambulances in downtown Minden was ready to proceed with construction while Minden Hills council was not ready to proceed until it could secure provincial and/or federal funding for its project.

The existing Minden Hills fire hall is an aging building on Prince Street and is located in Minden’s flood plain.

It experienced damage during the flood of 2013.