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Storm_Relief

Feature Article September 18

Feature Article September 18, 2002

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Storm relief still on holdby Will Cybulski Cloyne At North Frontenac Councils regular meeting on September 9 at Barrie Township Hall, a delegation of residents from the village, who were not on the official agenda, waited patiently until the session was over to ask what action was forthcoming on storm clean-up by the municipality. The reply they got was not what they wanted to hear, and the sense of frustration for both the townships administrators and its residents was obvious.

The subdivision which the delegation represented, situated across from North Addington Education Centre and just east of Highway 41, was one of a number of locations that took a particularly hard hit from the micro-burst that pummelled the region in the early hours of August 2.

Within the confines of that group of residences, Mo McFadden had a portion of his house destroyed, Ursula Ossenberg had a pine tree top come through her roof, and Peter Bourgeois Windstar van was demolished. Most, if not all, other property owners of the immediate area suffered from toppled trees. Municipal acreage was not immune from the storms fury, but aside from the townships initial emergency reaction in the hours following the freak of nature, there has been no concerted effort to get rid of the public portion of the leftover mess.

But that is not by choice, the delegation was informed by Mayor Stan Johnston. We have been told not to start, or our (potential) funding could be jeapordized, said Johnston. You are just one of many in the same situation.

Municipal staff at the meeting indicated that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing just keeps asking for more information and clarification, so there has been no definitive response as to whether or not the township will get any of the half-million dollars in disaster relief for which it has applied.

Residents expressed concerns over what could occur with the debris at Halloween, or later, if it is still on the ground when snow arrives. Mayor Johnston assured the delegation that he was well aware of the need for clean-up throughout the municipality, stating that, We travelled all the roads. His final word on the matter at the end of the night was, Ill call them (the Ministry) myself.

With the participation of the Government of Canada