Feature Article August 21, 2002
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Council amends aid resolutionby Will Cybulski At their August 12 meeting, NF council voted to amend their earlier resolution asking the province to declare the area a disaster zone in the wake of the August 2 storm that tore through the municipality. The original resolution could have left the council in a position to ask for aid, not only for the township itself, but for private property owners as well. The amended resolution has council trying to recoup only the townships losses. This decision came about following a presentation by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housings Warren Sleeth and Alison Faith-York. As reported in a previous article, the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP) is intended to alleviate the hardship suffered by private homeowners, farmers, small business enterprises and non-profit organizations whose essential property has been damaged in a sudden and unexpected natural disaster, such as a severe windstorm. However, during the exchange of information between Sleeth/Faith-York and the council, it was brought out that if the municipality was going to pursue benefits for the private sector, it needed to be conscious of the fact that a fair amount of local effort would be necessary first. Some of the questions posed to the Ministry representatives related to: the levels of documentation that would be needed; the need to hire someone to do that job; how accurate cost estimates would have to be; how would the township determine primary residences from seasonal; what insurance claims were made and paid; and if damages to private roads and service poles were an eligible cost.
As well, it was pointed out that under ODRAP, the community would have to do a considerable amount of fundraising first. The province would then match those funds by contributing up to $2 for every local dollar raised, to an amount necessary to settle all eligible claims, up to 90% of eligible costs. A disaster relief committee would also have to be appointed by council as soon as possible. The purpose of the committee is two-fold: to raise funds for the benefit of disaster victims; and to settle claims as efficiently as possible. The committee would have the extremely difficult job of deciding which claims are eligible. The Ministry would share certain administrative costs incurred by the committee, whose members could not be from municipal council nor have potential conflicts of interest in the collection or distribution of funds. Part of the committees duties would be to set up a disaster relief fund and bank account, register the fund as a charity with Revenue Canada, and solicit donations to the fund and organize fund-raising activities. Only principal residences qualify under the program, so cottage owners would not be eligible for benefits under ODRAP. ODRAP also provides provincial funding to municipalities that have sustained certain damages from a disaster as declared by the Ministry, and this is where the two prongs of the program separate. Once all the criteria have been met, benefits may be paid directly to the municipality for eligible costs such as extraordinary damages to public infrastructure. In the case of our township, it is looking to recoup in excess of a half million dollars that it is estimated will be necessary for roadside clean-up, staff wages, and administrative costs for the Emergency Control Centre that was set up after the storm. In the end, council as a whole, with the exception of Councillor/Deputy Mayor Gleva Lemke (who was absent) voted to amend the original resolution so that the portions of only Wards 1 and 2, as shown on a map sent to the Ministry, be considered as disaster areas, and that the request for financial assistance be limited to public funding only. Mayor Stan Johnston did tell me that, at a later date, council might consider looking at some alternative method of relief for those property owners who found themselves in extenuating circumstances.