There was no shortage of goodwill when thousands of evacuees converged on Lac La Biche County, but transforming a recreational multiplex into a full-fledged evacuation centre comes at a cost.
There was no shortage of goodwill when thousands of evacuees converged on Lac La Biche County, but transforming a recreational multiplex into a full-fledged evacuation centre comes at a cost.
Administrators are still working on a total, but they know for certain that they’ ve spent over $250,000 since the Bold Center started taking in Wood Buffalo residents who fled their homes ahead of a raging wildfire in early May. The county is expected to submit a full report to the province, detailing expenses and asking for help refilling the municipal coffers.
The county’ s finance department is still processing reports and timesheets, but senior managers explained what’ s been confirmed so far at a regular county council meeting last Tuesday.
The figure includes almost $27,000 for “consumable supplies,” meaning food and drinks. It also includes costs for some of the hotel rooms and other accommodations the county secured for evacuees, but not all.
“For sure, more to come,” said chief administrative officer Shadia Amblie.
The Bold Center was a provincially designated reception centre for evacuees. At one point, more than 250 Wood Buffalo residents were staying there full-time, sleeping on cots in the curling rink.
County staffers and community volunteers manned the facility all day and all night. Regular county employees collectively earned over $60,000 in overtime pay during that period-and councillors voted last week to approve paying $33,000 more in overtime for managers. Municipal managers don’ t qualify for overtime under normal circumstances, but running the evacuation centre has been dubbed “an extraordinary event that justifies payment.”
County documents say overtime is “reimbursable by senior levels of government” in special cases like disasters.
During this week’ s council meeting, Mayor Omer Moghrabi had nothing but praise for administrators and their actions during the busiest times of the evacuation.
“You guys have done a fantastic job,” he said. “I don’ t think any other centre can compare with what we’ ve done.”
While the Bold Center has returned to its regular day-to-day operations, McArthur Place and Jubilee Hall continue to provide services for evacuees. Regional Fire Chief John Kokotilo said those services are still very much in demand. On the long weekend, more than 1,000 people visited Jubilee Hall to collect donated supplies, and meals are still served to 300 or more people each day at McArthur Place.
Kokotilo agreed with Moghrabi that the groundswell of support from the local community has made disaster relief efforts in the area very successful.
“We’ re second to none,” Kokotilo said.
County spokesperson Jihad Moghrabi said the municipality’ s plan is to use surplus donated items to help Fort McMurray and other communities impacted by the wildfire in Wood Buffalo get back on their feet, after the demand for supplies in the local area winds down.
“Depending on the circumstances, Lac La Biche County expects to give unused donations to non-profit organizations that will help with rebuilding efforts,” Moghrabi said. “Some items may be given to local community groups, but priority will be placed on rebuilding efforts and evacuees.”
Displaced residents are expected to start returning to their homes next week. For Fort McMurray and Anzac, re-entry will done in phases from June 1-15.
At press time, the Fort McMurray wildfire covered more than 566,000 hectares, an area roughly the size of Prince Edward Island.
