A number of municipal departments have spent the past 18 months focused on helping the community of Wheatley move forward and recover from a gas explosion that rocked their downtown core in August of 2021.
Councillors received an update about the Wheatley gas emergency recovery at Monday’s council meeting.
An evacuation has been in place since the blast, with successive reductions of that evacuation zone. A portion of Erie Street North is expected to reopen next week.
Coun. Lauren Anderson, when asked about the recovery efforts, said the community is still living with the trauma of the explosion, with there still being unknowns.
“I feel like every little step is maybe little, but it doesn’t hinder the hope that we have (to recover). It’s definitely helping,” Anderson said, noting Wheatley’s resilience.
At Monday’s council meeting, current Chatham-Kent CAO Michael Duben praised former CAO Don Shropshire for his passion regarding the Wheatley file.
“As the outsider coming in and wasn’t here for this event, the passion for the individuals on our team here, …they have gone out of their way, they have all made this their priority,” Duben said, while noting there is still more work to do in Wheatley’s recovery.