Flood Mitigation and Community Resiliency Update – Ptarmigan Court

Minutes of a Meeting of the Council of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo held via Electronic Communication, a combination of video conferencing and teleconferencing, in the Council Chamber at the Syncrude Athletic Park Clubhouse in Fort McMurray, Alberta, on Wednesday, September 16, 2020, commencing at 4:00 PM.

Present: Don Scott, Mayor Krista Balsom, Councillor Bruce Inglis, Councillor Sheila Lalonde, Councillor Phil Meagher, Councillor Verna Murphy, Councillor Jane Stroud, Councillor Claris Voyageur, Councillor

Absent: Mike Allen, Councillor Keith McGrath, Councillor Jeff Peddle, Councillor

Administration: Jamie Doyle, Chief Administrative Officer Matthew Hough, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Jade Brown, Chief Legislative Officer Deanne Bergey, Director, Community Services Jody Butz, Regional Fire Chief Chris Davis, Acting Director, Legal Services Dennis Fraser, Director, Indigenous and Rural Relations Brad McMurdo, Director, Planning and Development Matthew Harrison, Acting Director, Communications and Stakeholder Relations Linda Ollivier, Director, Financial Services Antoine Rempp, Director, Environmental Services Keith Smith, Director, Public Works Dennis Warr, Director, Engineering Services Kari Westhaver, Director, Human Resources Darlene Soucy, Legislative Officer

Reconvene

Mayor D. Scott reconvened the meeting at 4:06 p.m.

Jody Butz, Regional Fire Chief, spoke to the importance of resiliency in building stronger, more sustainable communities with the ability to absorb, adapt and recover from anything, including wildfires and floods. Regional Fire Chief Jody Butz noted that the Municipality has the opportunity to adapt to the significant flood risk in the region, and from a public safety perspective, consideration needs to be given to the livability of areas of the Municipality located in the river basin and that all disaster risk reduction measures must work according to plan and in sync in order to be successful.

Matthew Hough, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, presented on the flood mitigation and community resiliency for Ptarmigan Court, noting that due to limited, cost-prohibitive flood mitigation options, the recommendation to offer to buy out the properties in Ptarmigan Court was based on technical analysis and community engagement, and would minimize cost and residual risk.

Delegates

Dianne de Sousa, Executive Director, and Nick Sanders, Interim Executive Director, Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce, spoke in support of a voluntary buy out for Ptarmigan Court residents, and indicated that consideration should be given to land swap and relocation options to keep residents in the region.

Mayor D. Scott acknowledged receipt of written submissions which are part of the agenda package, available to the public on the municipal website.

The following written submissions were read into the record as they did not form part of the Agenda package available on the municipal website. Following conclusion of the meeting the submissions will be added to the Agenda package and made available online.

BILD Wood Buffalo generally supports the completion of the recommended flood mitigation and noted that land swaps would be preferable to buy outs to encourage residents to stay in the region.

Shannon and Jamie Kirby, Ptarmigan Court residents, wrote in favour of buy outs and not land swaps for Ptarmigan Court.

Darcy Jenkins, Ptarmigan Court resident, wrote in opposition to buy outs and land swaps, and in support of flood mitigation measures such as berms being put in place for Ptarmigan Court.

Mat Espinoza, Corcoda Inc, on behalf of Top Church, spoke in favour of land swaps for property below 250 m in Ptarmigan Court, Waterways and Draper and proposed a land swap for TOP Church’s property located in Draper.

Connie Stevens, Timberlea resident, suggested that further public engagement and disclosure of all costs should be considered before Council makes decisions on buy outs that could have a large financial impact on the taxpayers of the region.

Michelle Amiot-Jenkins, Ptarmigan Court resident, wrote in opposition to buy outs and land swaps and in support of flood mitigation in Ptarmigan Court.

Andrew Thorne, Draper resident, spoke in opposition to buy outs and in support of flood mitigation for Ptarmigan Court, including elevating individual properties.

Recess

A recess occurred from 7:28 p.m. to 7:57 p.m.

Councillor V. Murphy put forward the following motion for consideration: “THAT Administration be directed to conduct one-on-one engagements with the residents in Ptarmigan Court to assess which option will work for each individual resident to determine whether buy outs, funding to raise properties to 250m elevation or land swaps will work best for the majority of residents in that particular community and that a further Council report be brought back for consideration once this has been completed with accurate financial costing included.”

Mayor D. Scott put forward the following friendly amendment, to be added as the second part of the motion: “That Administration provide updates to Council every 90 days including discussions with the Prov of Alberta specific to funding and land swaps related to this matter”, which was accepted by Councillor V. Murphy.

Councillor S. Lalonde put forward a friendly amendment to insert “(main floor elevation); following the words “250m elevation”, which was accepted by Councillor V. Murphy.

Voting then occurred on the motion which now reads:

THAT Administration be directed to conduct one-on-one engagements with the residents in Ptarmigan Court to assess which option will work for each individual resident to determine whether buy outs, funding to raise properties to 250m elevation (main floor elevation) or land swaps will work best for the majority of residents in that particular community and that a further Council report be brought back for consideration once this has been completed with accurate financial costing included; and

THAT Administration provide updates to Council every 90 days including updates on discussions with the Province of Alberta specific to funding and land swaps related to this matter.

Recess

The meeting recessed at 10.22 p.m. until 11:00 a.m., September 17, 2020.