The Town of Halton Hills will receive more than $30,000 in provincial funding to help establish an emergency operations centre in Acton.
Jill Dunlop, Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response, was in Georgetown Friday morning to announce $5 million in funding for communities across the province. It's the third round of allocations aimed at helping communities with populations under 100,000 prepare for responding to emergency situations.
“We want to equip communities with the tools they need to be prepared for anything,” Dunlop said at Halton Hills Town Hall.
Halton Hills is receiving $30,428 from the province, which it will use for an emergency operations centre that's being created in the Acton fire hall.
“You always have big plans of what you want to do, but the funding always runs out and you have to work within your limits,” said Halton Hills Fire Department Deputy Chief Bruce Morrison. “Having this funding available allows us to do work that would have taken us years to accomplish.”
The funding will be put toward an audio-visual conferencing system, tables and chairs, along with coloured vests that assist in finding the appropriate person during a crisis.
“Management system colours are associated to different functions,” Morrison said. “As a result, when there’s a group of people in there, you need to identify at a glance who’s responsible for what.”
The funding will also be used for incident management system training and exercises.
Morrison said the Town had applied during the first two rounds of funding, but noted in those rounds many of the recipients received money for equipment that Halton Hills already had.
“It’s an investment that will strengthen our ability to prepare for and respond to and recover from emergencies, whether that’s severe weather or flooding or extended power outages or other events that can impact our residents,” said Halton Hills Mayor Ann Lawlor. “Emergency management is one of those essential services that residents may not see day-to-day, but when something happens, they expect their municipality to be ready immediately.”
“I know firsthand how important each and every investment is to the town budget,” said MPP Joseph Racinsky, a former Halton Hills councillor. “Every single dollar matters. I paid close attention to our municipal budget each year and I know there are a number of pressures faced by municipalities all across Ontario. That’s why this program is so important.”