Preparation for the 2019 Freshet was a big topic at Monday morning’s council meeting. A presentation listed critical infrastructure work in Grand Forks, including rebuilding a Chlorine contact chamber, rebuilding and moving the controls at the Switch Yard, and rebuilding the Switch Yard’s backup power supply. Some initiatives for Midway and Greenwood were also discussed as the Flood Recovery Team is regional. To name a few, The Team is helping Midway with an exposed gas, water, and sewer main in Boundary Creek, and is working with Greenwood on their registered berm.
Manager of Operations David Ried says The City is still working through some insurance claims. “So in summary we’re working through about 10 facilities and 2 playgrounds that were affected by the flood, and the cost is estimated at about 1.8 to 2.2 million dollars currently.”
Mayor Brian Taylor expressed interest in helping city staff fund some gaps. “Council will stand behind using resources of The City if necessary. We don’t want to mess it up in terms of applications for funding and losing that opportunity to have the Province and the Fed’s [sic] paying for things, but on the straight “get it done” level I think council’s ready to take some risk with funding.”
Those gaps include engineering costs, a storm water management plan, flood preparation materials, and more. Emergency funding worth $250,000 was approved by council later that evening.
Councillor Christine Thompson commends city staff. “I just want to publicly thank our management team for being pro-active, and coming to council so that should something arise, we’re not calling special meetings or are being begged for forgiveness -they’ve got the authority to do it.”
A Disaster Financial Assistance Recovery Plan was also discussed, requesting 3.4 million dollars from the Province, 20% of which The City will pay. That plan involves installing an asphalt trail at City Park, completing sanitary and storm sewer assessments, dike repairs, and much more. A Natural Disaster Mitigation Program requests 3 million dollars largely for eastern-downtown protection. The Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund requests just over 48 million dollars. 118 Expenditure Authorization Forms have been submitted. 87 request approximately 11 million dollars for Response, and 31 request approximately 2 million dollars for Recovery.
To read about flood related meetings happening this week in the community, click here.