Bracebridge’s Deputy Mayor Rick Maloney has slammed the lack of communication on the part of the Province and the MNR in advance of the one year anniversary of the 100 year flood. Last night at council, Maloney said the Town has not heard anything from upper tier officials, who had told Bracebridge there would be stepped up communication on a variety of flood related issues. “I’m concerned we haven’t had a vested response,” he said. “Here we are in 2014, there’s been a major snow event and we’re not hearing anything on issues of Muskoka watershed management communication and all parties sharing info.” Maloney says with the weak January thaw we are headed towards Spring with compacted accumulated snow. If it doesn’t run off, it could spell disaster when the weather warms and cause flooding.
“We don’t want our residents to have to go through that again,” he said. “I’m a bit dismayed we haven’t heard anything. We can’t control the weather, but we can control the response.” Mayor Graydon Smith hopes to speak with the Minister of Natural Resources at the end of February about flood related issues. In the meantime, Councillor Barb McMurray says she saw MNR personnel from Peterborough checking water levels recently on the Black River in Vankoughnet. Mayor Smith says the Town will continue to work with the MNR. He too is hoping the increased snow load doesn’t result in flooding.