After costly ice storm cleanup, Orillia explores ways to improve winter maintenance
The gates to the Saint. Andrew's - Saint. James' Cemetery in Orillia remain locked nearly a month after a devastating ice storm swept through the region on April 23, 2025. (CTV News/ Rob Cooper)
Just months ago, the City of Orillia approved a half-million dollar investment for tree rescue and replanting, marking the beginning of the city's recovery from the devastating March ice storm.
Now, Orillia is asking how it can improve its winter maintenance.
A working group was established early last month and came up with 19 recommendations for the city to adopt. That includes enhancing communications, expanding its slow plowing fleet, and even driveway clearing support to some residents in Orillia.
On Monday afternoon, CTV News asked Orillia Mayor Don McIsaac what caught his attention. His response focused on the city's Business Impact Analysis (BIA) about the possibility of assuming downtown winter upkeep.
'I'm wondering why they do that. Why doesn't the city just take that over? That's a conversation we have to have with them. I mean, there may be a good reason why they want to do it, but I think the city has all of the equipment and people, stuff in place to do it. So that's probably something we could look at.' He said. 'Roads and sidewalks we're looking at expanding the fleet. Do we need more equipment or not? The problem with the equipment is you have it, and you need it for one or two days a year, and then you don't need it. So we need to look at it very carefully.'
Ice storm damage provincial parks
A destructive ice storm has created significant damage at provincial parks in the Orillia area.
(Source: Ontario Parks)
Council has directed staff to assess the feasibility of these recommendations, with a further report to be included in budget deliberations.
Earlier this month, council approved the $500,000 in funding to plant new trees, remove damaged and fallen trees and tree stumps from public parks hit the hardest by the storm, including Couchiching Beach Park, Centennial Park, and J.B. Tudhope Memorial Park.
The funding was allocated from the City's Tax Rate Stabilization Reserve.
But with the city spending more than anticipated to keep up with the challenges of the harsh winter, it remains to be seen what the city can actually adopt.
With files from CTV News Christian D'Avino.
Related Articles:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
19 minutes ago
- CTV News
Sask. encouraging residents to come forward with information regarding intentionally set wildfires
An orange-coloured haze, resulting from a nearby wildfire, is seen on a helipad in La Ronge, Sask., in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, *MANDATORY CREDIT* Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) president Marlo Pritchard says investigators have determined that 80 wildfires in the province this year were started by humans, with approximately 30 of those set intentionally. Pritchard says the SPSA and police are asking for the public's assistance to help identify individuals that have intentionally set wildfires. 'Of those [intentionally set fires] we have had four in the Prince Albert area in the past number of days and so again we would ask members of the public to call your local police service or Crime Stoppers,' he said. RCMP have already laid two arson charges, including against those believed responsible for starting the Ditch02 fire in the Weyakwin area that forced multiple evacuations. Pritchard says the SPSA can confirm 290 structures have been lost to the fires, with the possibility of that number climbing to 400 once more investigations are done. The SPSA also revised its provincial fire ban on Tuesday at 5 p.m. According to Pritchard, the provincial ban now only applies to the Northern Provincial Forest up to the Churchill River. Minimal to no fire growth Favourable weather conditions including rainfall has allowed firefighters to more directly attack flames over the past few days. That is also allowing some evacuees to return home. 'We are turning a corner, we are seeing that the fire activity has been relatively stable over the past few days. There has not been any significant growth and we've also seen and been informed that there is numerous communities either preparing for or have repatriated back to their communities,' Pritchard said. According to Pritchard, Birch Portage evacuees returned home June 9 and Little Bear Lake, Moosehorn and Timber Bay evacuees are returning home on Wednesday. Meanwhile, residents of Hall Lake, Brabant Lake, Nemeiben Lake, Sucker River, Wadin Bay, English Bay, Sikachu, Clam Crossing, Lac la Ronge Indian Band, La Ronge, Air Ronge, Napatak, Eagle Point, Lamp Lake, Rabbit Creek, Potato Lake and priority one and two individuals in Stanley Mission are all expected to return home in the next day or so, according to Pritchard. 'As the repatriation efforts continue, we will work with community leaders to support those that are being supported by SPSA to safely return to their communities in the coming days,' he said. Pritchard says as of Wednesday, there is still approximately 10,000 or more people still evacuated. The SPSA says there are 23 active wildfires in Saskatchewan on Wednesday. Six are listed as not contained and two with fire crews protecting values and property. The Shoe fire remains the largest in the province at approximately 550,000 hectares, according to the SPSA. The fire is one of the six still considered not contained but the SPSA says it has not significantly grown over the past few days. Crews remain focused on finding hot spots within the fire's perimeter and continuing to be stationed on the fire's west end to protect nearby communities. The Pisew fire near La Ronge has also not significantly grown since the area received about 22 millimetres of rain over the weekend. That is allowing about 7,000 evacuees to return home in the coming days. According to the SPSA the Pisew fire is at 181,000 hectares on Wednesday. More information can be found here.
CTV News
19 minutes ago
- CTV News
'Warmer than normal' summer expected: Environment Canada's Dave Phillips
Environment Canada senior climatologist Dave Phillips says most forecasters are guaranteeing a very hot summer.
CBC
29 minutes ago
- CBC
Squamish wildfire grows in size, but officials say conditions improving
Social Sharing A wildfire that has placed more than 200 properties under evacuation alert in the District of Squamish has grown in size, but officials say conditions for fighting the blaze are improving. The Dryden Creek fire, which is burning next to the Sea-to-Sky Highway about 45 kilometres north of Vancouver, grew from 14.4 hectares Tuesday evening to 20.2 hectares Wednesday. But B.C. Wildfire Service officer Marc Simpson said higher humidity should help crews fight the blaze. And, while strong winds were forecast for Wednesday, Squamish Fire Rescue Chief Aaron Foote said they were blowing in their favour. "We're in a better place today than we were," Simpson told a news conference. He added that the terrain around the fire includes steep, inaccessible areas where there may be rolling debris and "oversized rotten trees," which he expects to prolong the crews' work. An evacuation alert in the northeastern corner of the district remains in effect. On Tuesday, the district said about 100 properties were in the alert zone, but on Wednesday it clarified the total to be more than 220 properties, noting that one property may include multiple dwellings. Squamish Mayor Armand Hurford said affected residents should be ready to leave on short notice. He also stressed that the alert is only for certain neighbourhoods. "We're safe at this point, and the challenges are very localized," he said. "Things are OK here in Squamish, save for the concern we have in our very north and eastern corner of the community." WATCH | Squamish declares state of local emergency: District of Squamish declares state of local emergency due to wildfire 18 hours ago Duration 2:06 The district declared a state of local emergency Tuesday, noting the danger for the Brackendale, Tantalus Road and Skyridge areas. Hurford said the declaration gives the municipality access to more provincial resources should conditions worsen. He said a Montessori school in the evacuation alert area has closed due to the proximity of the wildfire. The fire is believed to be human-caused, but an exact cause isn't known yet. RCMP are investigating the fire and are asking anyone who was in the area around 4 p.m. on Monday to share information with police. There are 94 active wildfires in B.C., and more than half are classified as out of control.
