York, municipalities get $20.7 M from province for ice storm

Richmond Hill 'disappointed' not to get full $3.25 M claimed

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 23, 2015
By Lisa Queen

Two years after a holiday season ice storm left hundreds of thousands of Ontario residents without power and caused extensive damage, final cheques are in the mail to reimburse municipalities for their costs.

The provincial government, which promised to pay 100 per cent of municipalities’ eligible expenses, is paying 58 towns, cities and conservation authorities more than $131 million for the December 2013 storm.

That includes more than $20.7 million to York Region and eight of the region’s nine local municipalities that put in claims.

The funding is shy of the almost $23.9 the region and the municipalities requested.

The region claimed $2.3 million and is being reimbursed $2.2 by the province.

Vaughan claimed $10.2 million and is getting almost $9.8 million.

Markham claimed almost $7.09 million and is being reimbursed $6.04 million.

Richmond Hill is getting almost $1.9 million, rather than the $3.25 million it requested.

However, some on Richmond Hill council hope more funding will still come from the province.

“Although the province announced that this is the ‘final’ payment, discussions continue between town staff and the province regarding the claim,” said Regional Councillor Brenda Hogg, “and there is a possibility that the payment amount to Richmond Hill will increase.”

She noted the town spent $7 million in total to respond and recover from the ice storm.

Eligible costs for provincial funding included: incremental costs of immediate emergency response; clean-up of debris to protect public health and safety; making safe any public infrastructure; incremental costs incurred to provide essential services; incremental costs of staff for overtime; repair or replacement to pre-disaster condition of infrastructure; and incremental costs of appraising and estimating damage.

Hogg noted the town’s claim submission to the province is 97 pages and the supporting documents total 2,700 pages.

For Ward 4 Councillor David West, who was two weeks into his job as a new councillor, it was baptism by ice.

“The ice storm hit the Mill Pond area especially hard and I was brand new to the job as councillor. I had no heat in my own home and was trying to look after my neighbours,” he recalled.

He admitted he is “very disappointed” that town staff worked so hard on the claim to the province, yet didn’t get the full amount claimed.

“The real cost will go on for years and the province can’t put exceptional, monumental events like this on the backs of the municipalities. There may be more due to climate change - how will municipalities survive if the province won’t back us up?” questioned West.

Some municipalities received more than they claimed and some got less, Ministry of Municipal Affairs spokesperson Mark Cripps said.

If the ministry determined a town or city had failed to claim an eligible expense, the province covered the cost, he said.

On the other hand, some municipalities claimed ineligible expenses, Cripps said.

For example, some claimed labour costs for workers already scheduled to work, while some claimed clean-up expenses during a time pre-dating the ice storm, he said.

York Region Liberal MPPs praised the government’s ice storm funding.

“Our government is committed to helping communities that were severely impacted by the ice storm,” Richmond Hill MPP Reza Moridi said in a statement.

“We will always remember the extraordinary impact of the 2013 ice storm and the equally extraordinary response effort made by our local governments and caring neighbours,” Markham-Unionville MPP Michael Chan said.

The sentiment was echoed by Oak Ridges-Markham MPP Helena Jaczek and Vaughan MPP Steven Del Duca.