The council chambers-gallery was packed for Tuesday morning’s Committee of the Whole. A registered delegation on the agenda: Grand Forks Homeowners on the Buy Out List, who say they can’t speak for absolutely everyone included on the list, requested a reassessment of the Flood Mitigation Project including pre-flood value for bought out residences. Discussions between the delegation, council, and gallery continued for over an hour. One Gallery member says to borrow the money and pay the people what they’re worth.
Councillor Neil Krog says council is still interested in pursuing pre-flood value, but there aren’t any clear answers:
“The best we’re going to get is probably what we have. Now asking us to see if we can get more money: we’re still going after the government for the 6.6 million, but asking the people whether they would fund that….”
A gallery member says because these buyouts are needed for mitigation work, a fair price should be paid.
Councillor Krog had this to say on a separate occasion:
“You said that some could voluntarily be bought out and some could -it’s kind of an all or nothing type thing right now, for this specific grant, so if we wanted to…. it’s been a long time to get there, we can look at another application but I don’t know…. is it going to be successful?….”
The delegation also had a plethora of requests including more direct communication, and also had a list of questions to which they appointed a two week-deadline for answers. Recovery Manager Graham Watt says a lot of information and feedback has been noted but will need time to brought together, and some concerns can be brought back for a presentation. Mayor Brian Taylor says council is trying every angle. Later that evening council passed a vote to support the DMAF grant 4-3; more on that to follow.