WHITEWATER REGION (Cobden) — To a full chambers on July 17, LaPasse resident Phil Cottrell gave a presentation on the Flood of 2019 to the Council of the Township of Whitewater Region. It was his first presentation before Council and he stated the number of people in attendance were mainly from the Lacroix Bay area. Many questions were posed to Council, with the main concern being “where do we go from here?”
Detailed was some of the devastation residents experienced, including the only road in and out of the area being washed out for 26 days. According to Mr. Cottrell, residents are full of exhaustion, frustration, anger and despair but want to be involved moving forward.
Councillor Nicholson stated the recovery process can take three years for some and currently, there are 100 residents in Whitewater Region still not in their homes, with others in trailers. He said 75 homes on Westmeath Rd. are in the flood zone and are unable to rebuild their homes to be better, to help them withstand future flooding, and that funding has only been available for some residents.
Attention was drawn to the Pontiac Regional County Municipality resolutions made after the flood this year and along with these, as well as suggesting communication between Council and the public could be improved.
Councillor Charlene Jackson stated that compared to other Townships, Whitewater Region went above and beyond in their communication with the public, adding the communication which did go out was impressive. She also suggested the possibility of forming a group of individuals unaffected by the flood, who will volunteer their time to go around and capture flood data.
In spite of the feelings on communication, residents agreed the Township deserved sincere thanks. “I think just for once, we should give a round of applause to you guys [Council and the Township],” said Mr. Cottrell. Councillor Neil Nicholson and Mayor Mike Moore were specifically thanked and praise was given for the Lacroix Bay road repair and to the Westmeath District Recreation Association.
Councillor Chris Olmstead agreed with the statements made by Mr. Cottrell, stating he just did not believe the answers given at the public meetings. Mayor Moore also agreed, stating they just included more graphs in their presentations. Mayor Moore attempted to contact MPP John Yakabuski, but he was unavailable and his office staff said a statement will be made available soon.
Reeve Cathy Regier offered her assistance to Mr. Cottrell in getting him in front of County, as she has also requested a delegation with MPP Yakabuski but had not yet heard back from his office.
“I think it went quite well,” said Mr. Cottrell, when asked his opinion on Council’s decision and the presentation. “We certainly got some responses from the Councillors and in addition, I think we got the green light to move forward and possibly go to the County level, so in that respect I was pleased.”
“There certainly seems to be a lot of empathy from the Councillors themselves and agreement also that many of the responses that we received at the meetings with OPG (Ontario Power Generation) were frankly, totally inadequate,” said Mr. Cottrell. “So I was pleased that there was agreement and I was pleased that there seems to be some possibility to move forward.”
