OLDS — Town council has backed a proposal by Mountain View County to create an emergency social services plan for the region.
Council made that decision during its July 10 meeting.
In order to create that plan, the county is proposing to apply for a provincial grant.
The proposal also includes hiring a consultant to create the plan and conduct a “functional exercise.”
The province’s Municipal Affairs department has set Dec. 16 as a deadline for receiving those grant applications. The maximum grant available per project is $200,000.
The county's chief administrative officer, Jeff Holmes, sent area municipalities a letter explaining the proposal and asking each of those municipalities to do three things:
• create a resolution to apply for the grant before Sept. 30;
• name the county as the managing partner for the application by that same date; and
• provide administrative support to complete the grant project.
Olds council passed motions to do all those things.
In his letter, Holmes noted that the county is currently chair of the Mountain View Regional Emergency Management Agency (MVREMA), which includes the county, Olds, Sundre, Didsbury, Carstairs and Cremona.
It was created in 2008 to provide a framework for a regional response for multi-jurisdictional emergency response.
“Emergency social services is defined within Alberta as the support that meets the basic essential needs of individuals, households, and communities affected by emergencies.
They are provided as part of response to and recovery from emergencies,” Holmes wrote.
Town of Olds chief administrative officer Brent Williams said the purpose of the proposed plan is to complement the services provided via individual emergency response plans created by individual MVREMA member communities.
That includes services provided locally and provincially as well as services provided by local fire departments and other emergency management functions.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Williams said. “Thank you to the county for bringing this forward.”
Coun. Heather Ryan echoed that thought, adding that such plans are “much needed” in the wake of the July 1 tornado that slammed into an area between Didsbury and Carstairs.
Coun. Harvey Walsh noted that such plans come under review by the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.
He expressed concern that that could result in a requirement for capital expenditures.
“Fair question; good catch,” Williams said. “Nothing through this grant application would behold us to a capital requirement.”
But he said there is a chance that if there was a desire to create “a certain facility designated for a certain purpose” that might trigger a call for capital spending.
"That would be a separate decision of the local bodies where that facility rests,” he said.
