Council passes motion to seek mass communication strategy

After last week’s fire at the Wheatley water treatment plant, and ongoing boil water advisory, Chatham-Kent council passed a motion Monday to seek a mass communication strategy for the municipality to reach residents.

West Kent Coun. Lauren Anderson entered the successful motion, with council approving the waiving of the notice period in order to vote on it that night.

She asked that staff look into various measures, such as instant alerts, text messaging and automated calls, with recommendations and pricing brought back to council as soon as possible.

“I think that better communication is never a bad thing,” Anderson said, noting she’s heard of some people who didn’t become aware of the water advisory until several days later.

“I think there’s always room for improvement.”

Communication challenges have been ongoing the past several weeks, due to the dispute between tech giants, such as Meta and Google, and Ottawa over Bill C-18, which aims to compel the firms to cut compensation deals with news operations for posting or linking to their work.

Even before the boil water advisory, Chatham-Kent emergency officials noted they faced obstacles getting information out during a severe storm that caused widespread damage and power outages.

Anderson also asked for a media campaign to show residents what methods of information sharing are available.

Michael Duben, the municipality’s chief administrative officer, agreed with the need for a strategy, adding there will “never be one answer.”

He suggested one measure could be a subscription for municipal alerts, but admitted that would only help those who sign up for such a service.

“We’re still going to have to find other ways to communicate and cover as much ground as best we can,” Duben said.

“If it’s not for boil water advisories, who knows what’s going to come up in the future where having some method to get to people is going to be helpful.”

According to a media release issued Monday evening, the water advisory is still in effect as the Chatham-Kent public utilities commission continues to assess damage caused by the fire.

Water samples are being taken from the distribution system, with the samples being shipped.

The initial fire investigation has taken place and structural engineers are onsite assessing the extent of the damage.

A restoration team is ready to start decontamination to make the site safe for contractors to begin repairs once they are allowed to enter, the release added.

“We continue to gather information on the extent of the damage and will be providing a timeline for restoration of full service as soon as possible,” said Tim Sunderland, PUC general manager.

Residents in Wheatley and Tilbury will experience low water pressure for the time being. The PUC is asking that residents of Wheatley, Tilbury and customers served by the southern water treatment plant (which includes Blenheim, Merlin, Coatsworth, Shrewsbury, Rondeau and Erieau) conserve water until further notice.

During a boil water advisory, water can be consumed after bringing it to a rolling boil for one minute. This advisory measure is in place until public health receives additional information regarding the stability of the water system.

For the latest information, call the water advisory update line at 519-436-3240.