Wellington County sees vaccine shortages; hears of emergency plans

County coun­cillors here learned Oct. 29 there are plans to en­sure continuity of services if there is a major outbreak of H1N1 flu.

They also learned from Warden Joanne Ross-Zuj the county, like most commu­nities, did not receive the expected amounts of vaccine to inoculate people from the H1N1 flu.

She warned  there are priorities for those who receive the first shots – so the most vul­nerable get them first.

The county’s emergency services manager Linda Dick­son explained there are a num­ber of areas where govern­ments must be prepared if there is a pandemic. In a mild situation, up to 10% of county staff might miss work for various reasons. In a severe one, up to half of county employees might not make it into work.

She said each member muni­­cipality must develop a plan for such prob­lems.

She said education is needed to help people reduce the chances of getting the flu, and municipalities will have to man­age with illness in the work­force, identify essential ser­­vices, and ensure essential services are delivered.

Essential areas include health, safety, and wel­fare, a possible temporary halt­ing of services or a suspension of them, and some might stop for even longer periods.

Dickson said road clearing will be essential in winter, but not as big an issue in summer. Contract arrange­ments might have to be put into place.

Dickson said the human resources department will have to bring its contact lists up to date and may have to provide emergency training if a department has to redeploy staff.

She said there has to be continuity in decision making at government levels. That means subcommittees if coun­cillors are off sick, and desig­nated back-ups for positions such as Chief Administrative Officer. If a key staff mem­ber is missing, the county must ans­wer the question “Who is going to come in and assume that role.”

Dickson said the warden, CAO, communications officer, and the emergency information planner will receive special train­ing, and there has to be plans for services for resi­den­tial care and for care of people at Wellington Terrace.

She said social services must make provisions for ser­vice delivery and building main­tenance, and someone must make sure payroll is de­livered. Social services will have a “huge role” in maintain­ing income levels for people on Employment Insurance and wel­­fare, and in emergency man­­agement it might have to work through the Red Cross.

She said someone has to ensure there is waste collection and maintenance funds are available. Someone will have to ensure pension cheques are mailed to those who need them.

Road designations

Councillor Bob Wilson said he is un­happy with the civic addres­sing situation. “There is too many duplications in street nam­es,” he said.

He said the clerks’ depart­ments in many munici­palities have ignored that prob­lem.

“I’ve kind of given up.”

Dickson said Centre Well­ington is “looking at it.” The problem is it has four rural municipalities that were part of the merger with Elora and Fergus, leaving a lot of sideroads and Con­cessions Roads with the same numbers.

Dickson said Erin has gone through a renaming of its roads, and she agreed, “It’s not easy.”

But Wilson said northern Well­ington and Guelph-Era­mosa Townships have the same problems.

“There’s more than one 1st Line.”

He agreed Centre Welling­ton is working on the issue, but, “The 5th line of Centre Well­ington does not exist.” (It would be 5th line of West Garafraxa, or Pilkington, or Nich­ol, or Eramosa until chan­ges are made.)

Warden Joanne Ross-Zuj said Centre Wellington started the renaming process a year ago, but “It takes a long time. It’s a problem.”

Councillor Jean Innes is concerned about care in emer­gency areas of the community. She wanted to know what will happen if land lines crash (for phone and internet service) and added that if hydro goes out, people will need generators just “to support the web system.”

Dickson agreed that is a prob­lem, and it part of “our ongoing education.

Ross-Zuj said she has been in “regular conversations with Public Health, and has checked where inoculation clinics have been set up. Then, she said this area did not receive the amount of vaccine it was expecting.

Later in the meeting, coun­cil considered a recommen­dation from its administration committee that the procedural bylaw be amended to designate who takes over if the warden is unable to act.

The first choice is  the chair­man of the administration, fin­ance, and personnel commit­tee (John Green). After that, the acting warden would be:

– immediate past warden, if on council (Green), and, if  he is unable;

– chairman of the Well­ington County Police Services Board (Lynda White), and if she is unable;

– chairman of the roads com­mittee (Rod Finnie).

Also, the authority to ap­point an acting CAO is dele­gated to the CAO; and the purchasing bylaw spending limits will be extended to the CAO and department heads during times of emergency and pandemic.

Maieron said in major emergencies, the county should get as many of the warden’s advisory committee members together as it can and “do the best you can.” The committee chairmen make up that com­mittee.

 

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