Town councillors can’t hide their frustration with the lack of progress on their Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) application.
Town director of finance Julie Seppola told councillors at their June 12 meeting that there’s been no change in status regarding the application.
“The province has indicated that all DRP’s will be going to Cabinet for approval in April,” she wrote. “The province will issue an official response at that time.”
“I did not change this paragraph from the last time because that is the status that I know,” she said. “And we haven’t received anything (relative) to that.”
The Town of Westlock applied to the program in December for compensation to both citizens and town for property damage inflicted by the Aug. 22 flood.
“Is there any way Aug. 22 comes around we can get a cake with a large candle on it to celebrate the annual,” Coun. John Shoemaker said. “That’s my opinion. I think if we had a picture of us celebrating around the cake and sent it to them saying, ‘What’s going on? It’s been a year.’”
Mayor Ralph Leriger said it was absolutely unbelievable.
“We made repeated requests, letters, phone calls,” he said, to which Shoemaker added, “And they just ignore us. It’s just frustrating.”
“We have some citizens that are very frustrated,” Leriger continued. “And in talking with the other municipalities, the response from them is just about the same.”
The town submitted a total of 50 damage claims worth $800,000 — 38 residential claims totalling just over $591,000 and 12 non-residential claims valued at almost $199,800.
