Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Just a few weeks into after being sworn into office, Greater Napanee mayor Terry Richardson was tasked with responding to his first crisis.
A snowstorm dubbed ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ rolled through the region on Dec. 23, bringing high winds and severely reduced visibility. Early Christmas Eve morning Richardson declared a state of local emergency.
“Ultimately we have to think of the safety of the community and the safety of the citizens first,” Richardson said when reflecting on the decision to declare the emergency. “The decision to enact the emergency act was really a simple one when you receive all the information and you just see that there’s people that are being stranded along the highways and people that are being snowed into their residences. It really was an easy decision when you learn the details.”
County Road 8 was among the hardest hit roadways, forcing stranded motorists to take shelter in at South Fred Hall, which operated as a warming centre.
“It was difficult because some were getting stranded along side the roads so we had to get them dug out and get them into a safe spot before we got any of the roads and such done,” said Richardson. “That’s really what the emergency act is designed to do. Part of the emergency act is to prohibit travel and movement in specific areas.”
Conditions were so dangerous the OPP closed Hwy 401 to all traffic from Cobourg all way to the Quebec border.
Richardson credited town staff for their response to the weather.
“They did a marvelous job, second to none,” Richardson said of town staff. “When things like this happen the staff are able to step up and make things happen as much as they do. The important thing is they worked in conjunction with the lower tiers and the upper tiers. Staff put in some extremely long hours and were battling a storm that many of them had never seen before. I can’t say enough good words about the way we reacted to it and the results we got in a fairly short time.”
Richardson added it was also encouraging to hear of many stories of neighbours helping neighbours throughout the storm, whether it was helping to shovel out a driveway or bringing a can of gas to help run a generator.
His first major challenge now behind him, Richardson was asked to look ahead to 2023.
“Moving forward we’ve got a number of plans that we’ve updated with the official plan, the strategic plan, recreational master plan, soon to be a community safety and wellbeing plan,” said Richardson. “Those things are going to assist us and guide us into some future endeavours. We’re just in the process of completing a move into our administrative building at 99 Advance. We’ve got to be cognizant of the fact that we may need to work through any bumps in the road or issues that may arise from the move in there. Personally I’d like to see the revitalization of all of Market Square get started. It’s going to be I think a long process, but I’d like to see some movement on that, only because it compliments our downtown core and I think it’s important for the downtown core. An industrial park that needs to be developed and marketed to bring some much needed industry to the community and if we can continue to develop our waterfront, because it’s a diamond in the rough that is going to provide an economical and recreation benefit to our community in the future.”
Acknowledging the many new faces on council, Richardson said he’s looking forward to hearing the ideas they bring to the table.
“At the forefront we’re looking at the 2023 budget,” said Richardson. “We’re going to have discussions within the next six to eight weeks to get the budget established. We’re looking at interest rates rising, a possible recession and a time when people in Napanee are going to find it difficult to make ends meet. Looking at that and keeping in mind that we still need to invest in our infrastructure. Our streets need to be maintained, our municipal assets need to be kept up. In the next very, very immediate future we’re looking at some very tough decisions with respect to the 2023 budget.”
And just as the pre-Christmas storm showed, there will be plenty of unexpected curveballs that thrown council’s way in the coming months too.
Council’s first regular meeting of 2023 will take place on Jan. 10.