HIGH RIVER, AB: After being brought forward by the Town of High River, delegates of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) supported a resolution calling for an external review of the provincial Disaster Recovery Program (DRP).
“The problems we have been facing with the DRP are not unique to High River,” said Councillor Bruce Masterman, member of the High River DRP Advocacy Committee. “This development is very important to ensuring that the DRP meets the needs of all Albertans affected by future disasters.”
The extraordinary resolution was supported by 91 per cent of AUMA delegates on Wednesday, Sept. 23 as part of their annual convention.
The complete resolution reads as follows:
THEREFORE IT BE RESOLVED that the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association urge the Government of Alberta to employ external means including consultation with municipalities to identify and implement specific improvements to the DRP that will expedite the completion of outstanding files and will develop a more effective DRP delivery model able to efficiently meet the needs of Albertans affected by future disasters.
As of September 4, 2015 there remains 1,386 open DRP files from the 2013 southern Alberta floods with 699 of them from High River residents.
High River Town Council voted to bring this resolution to be voted on by AUMA delegates at the September 14 council meeting.