By STEPHAN BURNETT, Weyburn Review Editor
Fire Chief Denis Pilon gave an emergency planning briefing to City Council on Monday night.
In December of 1993, City Council passed the Weyburn Emergency Preparedness Bylaw which established the Weyburn Emergency Preparedness Organization and appointed the members of the Emergency Preparedness Organization. Subsequent to the passing of the bylaw, Pilon was appointed the coordinator and city engineer Bob Kinash was appointed deputy coordinator.
Pilon said a hazard analysis has identified a number of major concerns which could have a devastating effect on Weyburn.
"These include: Severe weather including tornadoes, snow and ice storms, heavy rains, high winds, etc. These can cause disasters ranging from building collapse to flooded homes and businesses to uprooted trees.
"Transportation accidents including road, rail and air. There are currently 11.5 trains passing through Weyburn every day and approximately 1,400 trucks, many of these are carrying dangerous goods and in the air, crop sprayers fly around Weyburn regularly loaded with hazardous chemicals. It should also be noted that all of our schools are within two blocks of a major transportation corridor on which these dangerous goods are transported.
"Accidents involving dangerous goods. These could include the releases of gases at industrial sites, fires at storage sites, spills and contamination of the environment.
"Major utility outages including loss of electricity, natural gas, water or sewer removal. About 12 years ago the City of Melville lost all natural gas during the winter due to a bump in the line pressure. It took two days to restore service to all buildings as each had to be restored individually. The ice storms in Quebec left people without power for up to 45 days. Contamination of our water supply could be devastating to our community.
"Human and/or animal disease breakout. We tend to think our medicines can protect us from these things but something as simple as mad cow disease could be devastating to a community our size, particularly as both humans and animals are affected by various strains of the disease," said Pilon.
He continued: "Our operational plan uses the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) system. In this system, all control of the actual incident is in the hands of a site commander on the scene of the disaster and he is supported by the EOC. The EOC is commanded by the City Commissioner and is manned by the heads of each of the response agencies, ie. the police chief, the fire chief, representatives from Health, Social Services, and communications, a public relations officer, and any other agencies required by the specific emergency. For instance, a major power outage may require a representative from SaskPower."
As far as provincial assistance in the event of a calamity, the cost would soon add up. The first $138,550 would be paid by the City, the next $138,550 would be paid half by the city and half by the province. The next $138,550 would be paid 25 per cent by the City and 75 per cent by the province. Beyond this point, or anything in excess of $415,650 is shared 10 per cent by the City and 90 per cent by the province.
After Pilon's presentation, Councillor Ray Hamm asked if there is a federal disaster program in place. Pilon responded there is. Although the federal assistance is only available after provincial revenues are exhausted, the federal government will assist at a certain point, said Pilon.
Hamm then asked about the army and when they might be brought in.
Pilon responded municipalities "pay through the nose" for the army. "Based on the figures stated here, once the maximum levels are exceeded the federal government would kick in."
Councillor Michael Pickering then asked about the year 2000 problem.
"A document has been developed," said Pilon. The city commissioner has received the document and there has been work done with computer systems, said Pilon, but the fire chief added, to a large extent, the year 2000 problem is overstated.
"The year 2000 bug, to a great extent, is overblown."
With regard to power outages, Pilon responded: "I don't see it would be any different then than if it happened today."
In other council news, the city administration revealed a detailed report on a year-to-year comparison of permits issued.
The grand total of $11,193,500 in construction with permits occurred - the most in 14 years of records. Four million and thirty-eight thousand in new construction of residential homes went up last year while an aggregate of $244,000 was spent on additions and another $260,000 was spent on garages. Civic permits equalled $2,412,000. Commercial permits are valued at $752,00 for new and $830,500 for additions. Industrial permits equalled $130,000 while industrial additions equalled $25,000. Institutional permits equalled $1.5 million and another $1 million in additions. Single family dwelling permits issued equalled $2.6 million in 1998 and multi-family units equalled $2.9 million.
Also in City Council, a playground equipment safety report declared $69,000 must be spent to clear up the deficiencies in the in the city's playground equipment. Mayor Schlosser expressed some dismay with the report stating a lot of the equipment on local playgrounds was only two years old.
The city amended its bylaw to allow for the temporary placement of trailers.
Council also expended $420, 147 for a series of local improvement projects in 1998. Further, council determined to spend close to $300,000 for paving and a carry over of $122,200 for recapping.
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