Councillor Wayne Stokley is recommending an official commendation go to staff for their efforts in December's ice storm.
On Jan. 22, Stokley said the recommendation made was that a commendation go to not only the fire department for doing an outstanding job, but the roads crew as well.
“I’m hoping that we as a council can take this thought and make a recommendation to thank them – for a job well done. A lot of hours were put into it and I really appreciate the hard work put in.
“They had their own families to take care of, but (the firefighters and roads crew) were still out on the road dealing with emergencies. It was really a testament to people who work for the township and the role that they play.”
Those sentiments were echoed by other members of council.
At the same time, Stokley noted reports in the Wellington Advertiser that a number of local municipalities were seeking grants to assist in ice storm recovery.
While Stokley said it was unlikely the township would get funding, “it is important to let residents know where we stand and the difficulties which were ongoing.”
He wondered if there was a means to circulate the cost factors and the number of hours incurred by staff.
“It’s definitely going to affect the upcoming budget process.”
Mayor Denis Lever noted that he’d spoken with works superintendent Don Creed recently and at that time, rough estimates were around $10,000 in fuel and labour and he expected there to be another $10,000 of fuel and labour costs to be incurred.
Lever then commented there are some thresholds being applied regarding funding opportunities.
Finance director/treasurer Mary Hasan said the threshold was an impact of 3 per cent or higher of the tax levy.
CAO Karen Landry said that for Puslinch it meant costs would have had to exceed $120,000.
“We were nowhere near that threshold,” Lever said.
He said that while some extra help may need to be brought in for tree removal, the main part was having staff available to provide assistance.
Stokley said there is still a lot of work yet to be done.
“It would be nice if the residents were aware of what the two departments had done.”
Councillor Susan Fielding noted the most intense time of the storm was over the holiday season.
She added many of the firefighters and roads crew have young families – “which shows even more how dedicated they are to their jobs.”
