By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle
Oliver will take a regional approach to Hazard, Risk, and Vulnerabilities Assessment (HRVA) by letting the RDOS take the lead on applying for and managing the project.
Since “emergencies don’t really follow dotted grey lines on maps”, council decided it is in the town’s best interest to work collaboratively and allow the Regional District of the Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) to apply for HRVA funding and take the lead.
The Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) Disaster Risk Reduction-Climate Adaptation funding program allows municipalities to apply for up to $50,000 for HRVA.
UBCM does allow municipalities to approve a local authority, in this case, the RDOS, to apply for and administer UBCM grant funding on their behalf. At their September 11, 2024, regional emergency program meeting the RDOS offered to lead a collaborative and regional HRVA process.
If successful the RDOS will administer and manage the funding on the town’s behalf and integrate the program into this wider regional approach.
The town will work collaboratively with the RDOS, local First Nations, and regional authorities for the duration of the project, but will not take the lead in the day-to-day management of it.
The new provincial Emergency and Disaster Management Act (EDMA) requires each municipality to have an updated HRVA. The most recent one conducted for the town of Oliver is from 2017.
Along with this, the Town of Oliver currently has two ongoing grants from this UBCM funding program. Oliver received $45,000 for flood modeling of Wolfcub Creek in Oct. 2023, and $150,000 for preliminary design for mitigation work along the Creek in March of 2024.
The town has also submitted a $5 million application to the province’s Disaster Resilience and Innovation Funding (DRIF) for mitigation work along the creek but has not received a decision.
The town passed this motion based on the reasoning echoed in Adam Goodwin’s, project coordinator’s comments that, “emergencies don’t really follow dotted gray lines on maps”.
