It appears the City of Dryden won’t be able to act as a host site if community evacuations take place this Spring due to flooding and forest fires.
Chief Administrative Officer Roger Nesbitt says they would struggle greatly taking on any kind of evacuation role right now due to the uncertainty of COVID-19.
The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association has raised similar alarm bells, calling on both levels of senior government to develop an action plan.
Nesbitt says “Many of our services right now are gearing up to handle surges from this virus. So taking on evacuation services would be somewhat difficult.”
The province says it will be handling evacuation plans and communicating with area municipalities, promising to ease the burden on hosting responsibilities because of coronavirus restrictions.
Dryden has acted as a “Transportation Hub” the last couple of years, including 2019.
Nesbitt believes they aren’t in a position to serve as a “Host Community.”
“It is taxing on our current municipal staffing levels. We are not staffed to handle large requests, AD HOC requests, such as evacuation hosting or even transportation hub services involved in an evacuation.”
It is a cost recovery service, but Nesbitt cautions it doesn’t include the significant time commitment required by municipal employees.
Nesbitt notes it also comes down to lodging, stating the province wants everyone grouped together.
“We’ve seen very limited commercial lodging availability through the summer months within Dryden. We saw that both last year and the year before. With basically the same pattern of availability.”
No official decision has been made.
There is support on Council if the City is able to partner with a third party, private sector entity, something the government considers but doesn’t generally act on.
No request has come down from the provincial government but the City would be required to adopt an official resolution if asked.
The issue was brought up at a recent Council meeting.
