Stouffville declares ice storm disaster, applies for $158,000 from province
Figure five times higher than last week

Stouffville Sun-Tribune
January 14, 2014
By Sandra Bolan

The Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville has officially been declared a disaster zone.

The proclamation was made by councillors this morning in order to apply for financial help from the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP).

The municipality is currently requesting $158,815 – more than five times last week's estimate – from ODRAP with the proviso that amount could increase as the cleanup continues.

“Our actual expenses are much greater than this,” Andrew McNeely, the town’s acting CAO told councillors. He is also the municipality’s director of planning and building services.

The preliminary financial fall-out from the storm was pegged at $25,000 to $30,000 last week.

No York Region-specific tally has been applied to the damage from the ice storm, it is believed the total for the entire GTA could exceed $250 million.

York Region and Toronto have also requested help from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, which overseas ODRAP.

“We cannot piggyback on the Region of York,”  Mr. McNeely said of why the town is submitting its own request for ODRAP relief.

Toronto has asked for $106 million to cover repair costs extending out to 2017.

“It is certainly going to have an impact on us submitting legitimate expenses,” said Councillor Phil Bannon.

The recovery cost expenditures Whitchurch-Stouffville has applied for include $12,092 in public works’ staff overtime between Dec. 21 and Jan. 10; $21,600 for a contractor to remove very large, damaged trees, as the municipality lacks the appropriate equipment; volunteer firefighter call-in costs of $2,267, as well $4,442 in staff firefighter overtime.

About 150 trees need to be replaced, which will cost $37,500 to purchase, according to Mr. McNeely.

Mr. McNeely expects the clean up on town land to take about a month and it will be done by town staff during regular working hours.

While no trees fell in the Stouffville Cemetery, “it looked like a disaster zone,” according to councillor Rob Hargrave who went there the day after the storm.

From Dec. 23 to the new year, four town-owned facilities were turned into warming centres – SoccerCity, Stouffville Arena, the Stouffville Clippers Sports Complex and the leisure centre.

The number of users was minimal, according to Mr. McNeely.

That could be because, Mayor Wayne Emmerson admitted, residents don’t really know where those centres are in cases such as this and trying to communicate that to people who have no electricity, Internet or cellphone service is challenging.

The mayor did note, however, the town’s two fire halls are always open.

If the situation became much worse and residents flocked to the centres, the municipality would have had to call on the region or an organization like the Red Cross for assistance as the town does not have the ability to cook hot meals or provide beds and blankets for overnight stays.

Just as the town continues its clean up of fallen branches, so do the residents.

Bundled tree branches that have fallen onto private land due to the ice storm will be collected next week.

Branches must be no thicker than three inches or longer than four feet. When bundled with twine only, the overall diameter cannot exceed two feet and a weight of 50 pounds, according to a notice posted on the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville’s website.

The bundled branches must be curbside by 7 a.m. on your regular collection day.

The branches can be placed in a rigid, topless container.

For the debris on private property that exceeds three inches in diameter, the homeowner is advised to contact a contractor for removal, according to the town notice.

“I think we’re asking too much in these weather conditions. They won’t be able to do it,” said Councillor Susanne Hilton.

An additional yard waste collection day is anticipated to be scheduled for the spring as Mr. McNeely said he does not expect every resident to clean their property in these weather conditions.

“We may see more limbs come down because trees are in a weakened state,” he said.

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) taxpayer relief provisions are available to those who have been unable to meet their tax obligations because of the power outages in Quebec, Ontario, and Atlantic Canada, according to a media release from Oak Ridges-Markham MP Paul Calandra.

Affected businesses can apply to have interest, penalties or both waived or cancelled using Form RC4288, Request for Taxpayer Relief.

The CRA considers these requests on a case-by-case basis.

For more information, go to www.cra.gc.ca/taxpayerrelief, call 1-800-959-8281 for individual inquiries, or 1-800-959-5525 for business questions.