York Region mayor's attend ice storm meeting

Markham Economist & Sun
January 23, 2014
By Sean Pearce

York Region’s chairperson and five of its mayors gathered with their counterparts from other GTA communities battered by a pre-Christmas ice storm to request that the provincial and federal governments chip in one-third of the costs associated with the ongoing clean-up effort.

Last Friday’s summit was held in Mississauga and brought together 19 mayors, including Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti, Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua, Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow, King Mayor Steve Pellegrini and Whitchurch-Stouffville Mayor Wayne Emmerson and three regional chairpersons, York CEO Bill Fisch among them, to both discuss the impacts of the Dec. 22 severe weather event in the hopes of government action from above.

Acting as chairperson for the meeting of municipal politicians, Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion stressed that the costs of undoing all of the damage from last month’s storm could not be borne by the GTA’s towns and cities alone.

“The ice storm caused damage to trees and property on a scale rarely seen in this area,” she said. “We have consolidated the costs: GTA municipalities and hydro utilities are faced with a staggering $275 million in total costs and this is all damage to public property.”

Ms McCallion also referenced the flooding that parts of the GTA, particularly Mississauga, Brampton and Toronto, endured last July and how her city’s application for provincial help through the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program was denied despite millions of dollars in public and private property damage.

In addition to asking for a three-way split on the clean-up costs among the municipalities and the two senior levels of government, the joint resolution is asking the provincial and federal governments to treat all applicable regions, cities and towns equally.

They request a response by March 1.

Meanwhile, York Region municipalities continue their own clean-up efforts.

Vaughan has estimated its costs at about $21 million while Markham and Richmond Hill expect a bill of approximately $13.2 million and $6.4 million, respectively. Stouffville predicts the price tag of its clean-up work will be $158,000.

King expects its total to run as high as $200,000.

The storm wrought plenty of damage in the region, but its effects differed depending on where you resided, York’s natural heritage and forestry manager Ian Buchanan said, adding Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Markham bore the brunt of the ice storm’s fury, while Georgina escaped relatively unscathed.

In every community, public safety was priority No. 1 in the days following the ice storm, Mr. Buchanan said, adding there remains weeks of clean-up work to be done to dispose of fallen branches and other tree debris.

York’s forestry department is working with staff from the municipalities, as well as the region’s roads crews, he said.

The ice storm had crews out on the roads for almost 36 hours straight, York’s manager of road maintenance Joseph Petrungaro said, noting they were sanding and salting in the south end of the region, while plowing ice accumulation in the north.

Since the storm, the attention has shifted, Mr. Petrungaro said, with roads and forestry personnel going out and removing broken tree bits from along regional roads.

Thanks to the ample boulevards found along many regional roads, most of the branches and debris was away from the roads, he said.

Mr. Petrungaro estimates the clean-up is about 60 per cent completed.

It will require more attention in the spring as the thaw and freeze we had last week and the recent snowfalls have left some broken branches either frozen to the ground or covered in snow.

Mr. Buchanan agreed that nature hasn’t been kind in that regard.

However, with the hazards now removed, crews are also moving on to pruning the region’s street trees and assessing the damage the storm caused in the York Regional Forest.

Speaking of the regional forest, Mr. Buchanan urged anyone planning to venture into the forest to be careful.

Caution is advised when entering any forest, he said, but it’s especially prudent following a major storm.

As for any tree debris you may have still laying about your property, Mr. Buchanan encourages you to contact your municipality to determine the best way to dispose of it.

Beyond that, GTA municipalities are asking the provincial and federal levels of government to implement new programs and expand existing ones in order to better mitigate disasters and include funding for the rehabilitation of infrastructure to reduce the impact of future storms.

The resolutions will be forwarded to all MPs, MPPs, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Linda Jeffrey called Friday’s meeting of mayors and regional chairpersons “productive” and noted that staff from her ministry is already assessing the damage.

The ministry continues to work with officials all over the GTA, she continued, and has thus far received 27 resolutions from municipalities seeking financial help to manage the storm’s impact.

Ms Jeffrey went on to say that she had contacted the federal government for assistance and to invite them to take part in the assessment effort, but gave no indication on when an answer to her query might be forthcoming or when she might render a decision on whether to declare a disaster zone or not.