Today, Hay River Council members voted in favour of purchasing a structural protection trailer through third-party funding.
At the last council meeting on May 13, Coucillor Corinna Gagnier recommended the motion and Councillor Tom Lakusta seconded the motion.
Councillor Robert Bouchard confirmed at that meeting that if third-party funding for the new trailer is not successful, the town will not go ahead with plans to purchase it.
Council decided in favour of making an application to the Community Wildfire Resilience Contribution Fund for $300,000 for the purchase of the trailer.
Administration identified a funding source for the Structural Protection Trailer through the Community Wildfire Resilience Contribution Fund. The fund is meant to provide investment opportunities and to help build partnerships to encourage FireSmart projects across N.W.T. Maximum funding for an application is capped at $300,000 per year.
Council also voted in favour of using the Old Town Fire Hall for storage of the trailer and related equipment.
Following a recommendation by the Finance Committee, the building will not be heated.
In the meeting report, council identified the structural protection trailer as “the missing asset” that would allow the town to fully equip a deployable team in case of fire.
The report outlined some issues that arose due to a lack of structural protection in previous years. Council heard that during the 2023 Hay River wildfires, the Town of Hay River was not equipped with structural protection that it needed to protect private properties and town property.
According to the report, during the first wildfire of the 2023 season, the town did not receive any structural protection resources from Environment and Climate Change until the wildfire progressed.
Council administration outlined in the report that it was not until August 2023, with the support of the Alberta Wildland Urban Interface, that the town was able to implement protection on 93 individual structures and implement other kinds of protections, like wet lines.
These wet lines were credits for saving areas of the community.
“There is a believed need for equipment in the form of a structural protection trailer for the remaining and future wildfire risks surrounding the community,” the report concluded.
Council administration reported that the equipment could also be put to use to serve nearby communities.
“This equipment could also be deployed to other communities at risk and create revenue opportunities for the Town of Hay River,” the report noted.
According to data collected by the town administration, similar structural protection equipment in the nearby province of Alberta is billed out between $1500 a day to $6000 a day.
“If it were deployed for a month at an open rate, that could be $180,000 generated in revenue,” according to the report.
The trailer is also a prerequisite to setting up a Wildfire Urban Interface team, an issue that has previously been discussed at town council.
Because the main firehall does not have enough space to house the trailer, this raises the question of creating additional space. That potential financial implication would have to be addressed once the trailer is purchased.
By turning the Old Town Firehall into a storage area for the new trailer, another financial implication is the loss of potential revenue if the building were to be sold. The building was last valued at $200,000. There are also financial implications related to ongoing building maintenance costs.
