Mayor Terry Yemen, right, and Dr. Richard Starke, Minister of Tourism, Parks, and Recreation meet during the flood in June. After lobbying the provincial government, Yemen has received word from Starke that the Chair of the Southern Alberta Flood Recovery Task Force, Andre Corbould, will be conducting an assessment of Drumheller.
The Town of Drumheller continues to lobby the province to reconsider a province-wide development ban in areas it considers floodways or redraw Drumheller’s flood hazard map.
Some headway has been made, the province is reported to be sending Andre Corbould, Chief Assistant Deputy Minister of the Southern Alberta Flood Recovery Task Force, to perform an assessment of Drumheller.
Mayor Terry Yemen was informed of the visit after a conversation with Dr. Richard Starke, Minister of Tourism, Parks, and Recreation.
“He advised that Andre Corbould, Chairperson for the Recovery Task Force, would be in Drumheller within the next couple of weeks to do an onsite assessment,” said Yemen. “The one-size isn’t going to fit all, so hopefully we’ll get some common sense out of the government,” said Yemen.
Corbould, a retired brigadier-general in the Canadian Armed Forces, was appointed to chair the Southern Alberta Flood Recovery Task Force following the floods in June. Corbould, then with the military, was deployed to assist with Winnipeg’s flood response in 1997.
Corbould could not be reached for comment.
Drumheller isn’t the only municipality demanding the province change its proposal. The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) met in Okotoks on August 7.
“They wanted to give everyone a little bit of an overview and talk about the issues,” said Yemen. “We spoke loudly about our issues. I think as a result, because I told them I wasn’t having any luck getting a hold of the government, Minister Starke called me that night and told me Corbould was coming.”
Though the AUMA will lobby on behalf of the province’s municipalities, the Town of Drumheller will continue its own efforts.
“They’re (the AUMA) going to take the issues forward, but that’s not to say we’re going to sit back either. I’m going to push our own agenda and not wait for the AUMA,” said Yemen.
The Town has been lobbying the province since Municipal Affairs Minister Dough Griffiths proposed several policies to help reduce flood damage in the future. One of the proposals would ban new developments in areas marked as floodways. Large parts of the Drumheller Valley are considered to be in floodways.
“The vast majority of houses in Drumheller didn’t flood, a lot not even in 2005, so why put them in a floodway?” said Yemen. “Help the people who need it, the ones who flooded, and leave the rest of us alone.”
To see if your property is in the floodway, visit www.envinfo.gov.ab.ca/floodhazard.
