Municipal officials have some work to do following this week’s public meeting with residents in Wheatley.
Mayor Darrin Canniff says while emotions were understandably running high, they got good feedback from residents who’ve been evacuated from their homes following the August 26th explosion.
“There was a lot of dialogue, there was probably 30 different people got up and asked questions and (had) comments,” Canniff says. “There’s certainly ideas people brought and (we) said yeah, we will incorporate this.”
For example, some in the crowd had suggestions on improving the process of getting residents back into their properties for one hour, when it is deemed safe to do so, to collect belongings and winterize their homes. Municipal officials are now reviewing that plan and will make some changes to better reflect the needs of affected residents.
While the entire process of finding the source of hydrogen sulphide and stopping any future leaks may feel painfully slow, safety remains the top priority.
“We want to get people back to their homes as soon as possible, back to their businesses, but we have to make sure it’s fixed right,” Canniff says. “What we don’t want to do is rush through this and say ‘wonderful, we fixed the well’ but find out three months later we didn’t know there was a second tributary for this, whatever it might be. We want to make sure it’s done right so people can feel safe and we can start getting back to a normal life in Wheatley.”
Some residents also asked for better communication on how the technical investigation is going, as well as increased security to protect empty homes in the evacuation zone.
Canniff says supporting residents’ financial and mental health needs are also equally important when it comes to rebuilding the town.
