As the debris cleanup continues in Wheatley following the August 26th explosion in the downtown core, municipal officials want to keep the lines of communication open.
Roughly 325 people logged on for a virtual town hall on Saturday to ask questions of municipal and provincial officials in the wake of the blast.
Even after the 90-minute session, there are still more questions than answers, and municipal officials are working to put together a second virtual meeting.
Canniff says the big questions residents have right now is when they’ll be allowed back.
“Chief Case, who’s managing the scene, he’s asked that on a constant basis. We want to get people back as soon as we can, but it has to be done safely,” Canniff says. “Right now the update on the scene, the Fire Marshal’s finished their investigation a couple of days ago, we haven’t heard anything from that. But moving forward, the province and the experts are working to find the source (of the gas) and ultimately fix it.”
No readings of hydrogen sulphide were detected throughout the weekend.
The reception centre for evacuees remains open 10am-2pm daily at the Wheatley Arena. Residents who need information after hours can call 519-350-2956.
Wheatley residents who would like to be added to the municipality’s email subscription service can do so by calling 3-1-1 or 519-360-1998 during regular business hours or by emailing ck311@chatham-kent.ca with contact information (name, phone number, address, email address.)
Wheatley residents concerned about where to vote in the September 20th federal election can enter their address at www.elections.ca to find their polling location.