The River Valley Community Church hosted last week’s Boundary Flood Recovery Update Meeting. Initially attendees were walked through critical infrastructure repairs, freshet 2019 preparation, and more. One highlight from Thursday evening was the hiring of a consultant to help with designing a Flood Response Plan.
Recovery Manager Graham Watt explains. “We received funding from the Provincial Government for doing a Flood Response Plan, to help The Boundary actually the whole RDKB, in advance of the coming flood year as well as all years going forward. So one of things that we knew in our emergency plan we didn’t have enough details on was flooding, we learned a heck of a lot this year”
The plan defines what’s being monitored such as snow levels, water levels and weather forecasts to help protect critical infrastructure, transportation routes and more. When indicators reach concerning levels, both the indicator level and response action plan to will be communicated to the community. Mayor Brian Taylor says he wants Grand Forks City Council to propel The Recovery Team’s efforts as opposed to slowing them down.
He responds to a question from the public regarding the future of taxes. “There’s a number of things that we can do that are economic development that are not just economic development but also revenue generating things that The City will look at over the next little while, so as we dedicate energy to economic development, we’re also expecting to have returns from that. So we’re very conscious about not raising taxes at this critical time for our community.”
Dennis Tournemille with the Community Christmas Hamper Program says there are people falling through the cracks. “Our committee is saying ‘if there is a need, if there is somebody who is looking at not having food for not Christmas day, or even more importantly that period after Christmas day til New Years when your cheques come in and all that little bit of help, The Community Christmas Hamper Program wants to meet that need’. ”
Registration for that program is open until December 20th now instead of November 30th. Approximately 20 people are living in RV’s, which are actively being winterized, and 16 people are in the hotel/motel program so far. You’re urged to contact case managers if you’re concerned for yourself or anybody you know. The date and location of the next update meeting is to be announced.
More details on the support line can be found here.
More information on the Flood Response Plan can be found here.
To read about the last Recovery Update Meeting click here.