Council will debate whether our community needs a second evacuation route when it meets Tuesday night and considers a move that would see them ask the provincial and federal governments to each share a portion of the cost of building a $1.5 billion secondary highway.
The proposed East Clearwater Highway would connect Fort McKay to Anzac and would offer both a second evacuation route and a secondary highway to alleviate traffic pressures on the community. The road could also potentially serve as a dangerous goods route, making travel on Highway 63 safer throughout our region.
The item up for debate Tuesday evening would see council agree that if the RMWB gets the support of the provincial and federal governments it would put $5 million towards the pre-design of the project.
The move is part of plans to make the community more resilient and better prepared for an emergency than it was before the fire. Other mitigation includes the FireSmart program and better protecting rural hamlets from wildland fires.
With the approval of the item, Mayor Melissa Blake would also write a letter to the Government of Alberta on behalf of council indicating the following:
The move had the unanimous approval from the Wood Buffalo Recovery Committee, including from an emotional Marty Giles who told the committee, “It just needs to happen.”
He spoke specifically of the importance of having a need for a second way out in the event a wildfire or other emergency made Highway 63 impassable and said there were many ways it could have become so on May 3 but the community was incredibly lucky.
WBRC Chair Jeanette Bancarz had pointed out the likelihood of an emergency from a dangerous goods or other incident on the highway is more likely to affect the community than a wildfire and it’s an important possibility for which to be prepared.
Naming proposal
Council will also consider a recommendation from the Community Identification Committee to name the amenities building at Snye Park in honour of 103-year-old former bush pilot Rex Terpening.
Terpening lived in the community as a child and attended school here until he was in grade nine. He played near the river when he lived in town and later served the community as one of the first members of the northern bush pilots in the 1930s when, according to the recommendation, “when return trips were not certain and even end destinations were precarious.”
The official recommendation is to name the building “Rex Terpening Landing” in honour of his ties to the community as a resident, a trapper, a pilot, and a flight engineer.
Line of Credit
Also Tuesday night council will consider establishing a $50 million line of credit with the Royal Bank of Canada so they can borrow money for operating expenses until taxes are collected within a calendar year.
This year’s delay in passing of the 2016 Property Tax Rate Bylaw due to the wildfire created a high risk for a cash flow shortage. The report indicates that, fortunately, cash flow needs were met with early redemption of investments, advance funding from the Disaster Recovery Program and early receipt of property taxes.
To avoid future early redemption of investments, the RMWB needs to have a means of borrowing money in the short term. This line of credit would address that need.
