Wellington North councillor Andy Lennox inquired whether the township had funds available to help offset costs incurred by village residents who gave refuge to stranded motorists during a snow storm and highway closure on Jan. 24.
“During the road closure in Arthur there were a number of drivers stranded and a number of residents arranged billeting and fed these people,” Lennox told council at its Jan. 29 meeting, which was coincidentally moved from Jan. 27 due to poor weather.
Lennox said food was purchased by the residents at the local grocery store and he wondered whether the township would be able to provide reimbursements.
“They had billeted out 16 to 18 people,” he said.
According to Lennox, the village has long had a network of volunteers who can be contacted to assist people in an emergency, like snow storms and road closure.
According to a village resident, residents went out and asked stranded motorists whether they needed help and a place to stay.
Many of the stranded motorist were contacted where they had parked: at the Tim Hortons, Union Burger and two other restaurants.
The resident said a church provided food for those stranded and residents billeted those who needed a place to stay overnight.
Mayor Ray Tout said the township should have a contact list of those who could help out in an emergency. He said a contact list would allow the township to release funds to reimburse for minimal expenditures.
“I have no problem utilizing those funds,” CAO Mike Givens said, of resources available in an emergency.
Tout said he relayed the story to an emergency official he had contact with when the village took in residents from Sandy Lake in northern Ontario about two years ago when their community was threatened by forest fires.
The official, according to Tout, said “the little town with the big heart has done it again.”
