County municipalities applying for ice storm relief funding may get what they are asking for after the provincial government appears to have loosened its purse strings.
The government announced on Feb. 27 it will be providing up to $190 million to assist with repair and cleanup costs from the December ice storm.
Details of the payout and how much municipalities might be eligible for were not announced.
However, Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott said he hopes the announcement will cover most of the costs incurred by the communities in his riding, including Halton Hills, Guelph-Eramosa and Erin.
Guelph-Eramosa originally applied for $60,000 in immediate Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP) funding, but has since increased that amount to $265,000 in total to help cover expected costs associated with cleanup later this year.
Erin has applied for $200,000 in relief funding and Minto has also applied for damages through ODRAP, based on the “cumulative effect” of two ice storms in 2013 (April 12 and Dec. 22). The town was previously turned down for an ODRAP application following the April storm, but officials estimate the final damage total from the two storms could exceed $200,000.
The county’s remaining municipalities have not applied for financial assistance to deal with the ice storm damage.
“While this announcement is a step in the right direction, we have to wait and see how much each individual municipality will receive before we can be assured that the government is going to treat all municipalities fairly,” Arnott said in a media release.
