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Dealing with the debris from ‘Tornado Tuesday’

July 17, 2014   ·   0 Comments

Deputy Mayor Rick Milne asked council what they were going to do assist area farmers with left over debris from the July 24th tornado at council Monday night.

Milne told councillors and staff that he had visited affected farmers along the tornado’s path (4th Line) and they still had “quite a bit of waste materials” yet to be collected.

Milne said that he had been in touch with County of Simcoe Waste Collection Services and he was told collection would not happen “at no cost” to the farmers (unlike the free waste collection that was extended to residents of Angus after the July 17th tornado there).

Milne said the county had told him that farmers should transport their waste to either the Bradford or Tosorontio Transfer Stations and then charge their tippage fees back to their insurance companies. However, in speaking to the farmers directly, Milne learned that the fees for waste removal would not be covered.

“The County helped Angus residents, we should be treated the same,” Milne said.

Milne then requested that the Town of New Tecumseth, on letterhead from the mayor’s office, send an official request to the county to have another look at the issue.

Director of Public Works Chad Horan noted that there were 102 family homes destroyed by the tornado that touched down in Angus on July 17th and only one house in New Tecumseth affected by the June 24th tornado much unlike in Angus, no State of Emergency had been declared. He also said that there was only about three tandem loads of visible waste left behind in New Tecumseth.

“If we put it out to the community that the County is collecting waste for free, who knows what else may appear on our road sides for collection,” Horan added.

Horan pointed out that “up until today” (Monday) fire service personnel were still working with residents and the town had received no complaints about insurance problems.

Mayor Mike MacEachern said that a coordinated response between the county and town would be the best next move and agreed to send a letter to the County to find out exactly what their stand point was. In the meantime, no bylaw charges will be laid to tornado affected residents with debris left in front of their property.

By Wendy Gabrek

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