The town of Smithers is looking into developing a winter emergency plan.
At its June 24 regular meeting, council unanimously agreed to approve the submission of an application to the Northern Development Initiative Trust – Healthy Community Funds in the amount of $23,400 to provide capacity funding for a consultant to develop the plan.
According to a report from town staff, a need for a winter emergency plan has been identified. The plan would assess issues and needs in the community related to and in the event of extreme cold weather, develop a communication and response protocol and pool resources with other agencies and groups to reduce the potential risk of cold-weather-related injury and death in Smithers.
The hope is having a plan in place would provide an efficient and effective response when initiated. This type of plan is being developed in other communities in northern B.C. such as Quesnel, and prevents issues related to communication, duplication of effort and under/overreaction to the annual reality of extreme cold weather.
The report went on to say issues related to homeless and vulnerable people during extreme cold events are more public than ever before and that local government has been placed at the forefront of those issues.
Responses to these events, without a winter emergency plan, are often reactionary, inefficient and can result in unnecessary resource use, staff time and negative publicity. A proactive winter emergency plan is more strategic and would reduce these negative results, staff said.
The Town of Smithers has reached out to a consultant with content expertise in the field and the estimated $26,000 is based on a quote from 2024 updated to reflect a 2025 cost base.
The grant would provide $23,400 and the remaining $2,600 would be included in the 2025 operating budget.
The town has applied for and been successful to this specific fund in the past, allowing it to hire both an additional municipal planner and an additional safety officer.
