HomeMy WebLinkAboutESD-001-14 Staff Report #1
Ckvilwin R OrEm P 0 R T
EMERGENCY AND FIRE SERVICES DEPARTMENT
Meeting: COUNCIL
Date: January 13, 2014 Resolution#: - 4 By-law#:
Report#: ESD-001-14 File#:
Subject: ONTARIO DISASTER RELIEF ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
RECOMMENDATIONS:
It is respectfully recommended that Council approve the following:
1. THAT Report ESD-001-14 be received; and
2. THAT that the following resolution be passed:
"WHEREAS the Municipality of Clarington recently experienced an ice storm
commencing on December 21, 2013, and has experienced substantial
damage to municipality property and infrastructure and, the Council of the
Municipality of Clarington hereby requests the Minister of Municipal Affairs
and Housing to declare the entire area of the Municipality of Clarington (612
square kilometers) a "disaster area" for the purposes of the Ontario Disaster
Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP)."; and
3. THAT an application be submitted to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and
Housing for assistance through the ODRAP.
Submitted by: Reviewed by:
Gordon Weir Franklin Wu,
Director of Emergency Chief Administrative Officer
and Fire Services
CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON
40 TEMPERANCE STREET, BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO L1C 3A6 T 905-623-3379
REPORT NO.: ESD-001-14 PAGE 2
1. BACKGROUND
During the period of late December 21, 2013 through to December 22, 2013, a large
part of the Province of Ontario experienced extreme weather conditions in the form
of an ice storm. Large parts of the Municipality of Clarington experienced loss of
power for an extended period of time (some through until December 26, 2013) and
the loss of many trees. In order to deal with the emergency, the Emergency
Operation Centre was activated with personnel working from there on Sunday,
December 22, Monday, December 23 and Tuesday, December 24.
2. ONTARIO DISASTER RELIEF ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
The Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP) is intended to assist
those whose essential property has been extensively damaged as a result of a
sudden, unexpected natural disaster such as a severe windstorm, tornado or flood.
The program consists of a private component to cover individuals, homeowners,
farmers, small business enterprises and non-profit organizations and a public
component to cover affected municipalities for disaster response and recovery. The
program is not intended to be a substitute for adequate insurance coverage and
does not provide full cost recovery. The private component of the program is
intended to cover a significant impact in the municipality, not individual properties.
Under the program, incremental, extraordinary municipal costs, over and above
normal municipal expenditures, which are related to response and recovery from the
disaster, may be eligible for reimbursement, such as:
Food/water for volunteers and disaster relief workers;
Emergency response supplies, eg, sandbags;
Municipal owned equipment costs (at 50% of MTO rate) or equipment rental
costs (prorated);
Activation of the municipal emergency operations centre;
Clearing and removal of debris and wreckage, including removal of buildings
and removal of trees and limbs if public safety is endangered;
Overtime for employees and those hired for disaster response/relief effort, or
to backfill for regular employees deployed for disaster response/relief efforts;
Incremental administrative costs related to disaster relief committee;
Emergency communications;
Additional security costs;
Repair and restoration to pre-disaster condition of uninsured public facilities
(eg, buildings, libraries, recreational facilities including parks, roads and
drains, infrastructure); and
Evacuation and shelter of people and animals, including incremental
operating expenses.
REPORT NO.: ESD-001-14 PAGE 3
Losses and costs which are ineligible for funding include:
Regular salary;
Insurance deductibles;
Municipal equipment costs (other than as described above);
Additional costs to repair or improve structures of infrastructure beyond pre-
disaster condition; and
Lost revenues.
In order to be eligible for the program, a municipality must first pass a resolution
requesting the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to declare the affected area
as a “disaster area”.
3. CLARINGTON’S RESPONSE TO THE STORM
In dealing with the ice storm, the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) was
activated which allowed members of senior staff to work from one location in
coordinating response efforts. Through the use of “cycle meetings” at the EOC,
communication to residents was ongoing throughout the duration of the storm and
recovery period. Warming centres were established at both the Garnet B. Rickard
Recreation Complex and the Newcastle and District Recreation Complex in order for
residents to attend to get warm, have a hot shower, get a hot meal (soup and
sandwich) and to charge mobile devices. A number of people did attend at the
centres, but it was not necessary for anyone to be sheltered overnight. The
Customer Service Desk at the Municipal Administrative Centre was manned for an
extended period of time on Monday, December 22 and Tuesday, December 23 in
order to answer questions from residents calling in.
The Operations staff worked approximately 1949 hours of overtime starting
stth
December 21 and ending December 28 (as of the writing of this report) in
attempting to clean up roads with downed trees as well as expanding our reception
ndth
hours to assist with residents calls on December 21, 22 and 24 and inspecting
municipal buildings. As well, the Emergency and Fire Services Department
responded to in excess of 211 calls in a period of 3 days.
Preliminary incremental costs expended by the Municipality in responding to the
storm are:
Volunteer Fire Fighters $ 85,000
Materials (Sand & Salt) $395,458
Equipment $ 79,064
Tree Removal/maintenance/stumping $ 160,000
Operations Staff Overtime $ 99,196
Community Services Staff Overtime $ 15,000
Sidewalk contractors $ 121,668
TOTAL $955,386
REPORT NO.: ESD-001-14 PAGE 4
4. CONCURRENCE
This report has been reviewed by Fred Horvath, Director of Operations, Nancy
Taylor, Director of Finance/Treasurer and Patti Barrie, Municipal Clerk who concur
with the recommendations.
5. CONCLUSION
Due to the extent of the damage caused by the ice storm and the amount of
expenditures required by the Municipality to address the response, it is respectfully
recommended that the Municipality pass a resolution requesting the Minister of
Municipal Affairs and Housing to declare Clarington a disaster area for the purposes
of the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program and to allow for an application to
be submitted under public assistance in order to cover the damage caused to
municipal property.
CONFORMITY WITH STRATEGIC PLAN –
The recommendations contained in this report conform to the general intent of the
following priorities of the Strategic Plan:
Promoting economic development
X Maintaining financial stability
Connecting Clarington
Promoting green initiatives
Investing in infrastructure
Showcasing our community
Not in conformity with Strategic Plan
Staff Contact: Gord Weir, Director of Emergency and Fire Services
List of interested parties to be advised of Council's decision:
The Honourable Linda Jeffrey
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing