Three Flood Meetings Today

By 250 News

Prince George, B.C. -  There are three meetings set for today to deal with the  ice  jam and flooding of the Nechako River.

One will  see  City Hall make a decision on a plan of action  to deal with the ice jam.

There  are some options, which  the City is not yet pepared to  make public.  Ice jam expert Paul Doyle says  the fact there is an option is good news "There is one possible option, but there are hurdles to get over before it might actually happen."

We know it  does not involve  dredging, but there is a possibility  one of the existing channels be widened.

City Manager Derek Bates says a number of engineering experts have  been assessing the  overall situation  based on the advice of Paul Doyle. Bates says there are some ideas being evaluated  by the  engineering team "We need to understand from them which of those ideas have the most merit."  Some preliminary decisions  about those options will be made today.  "There is one option  which  has some promise " says Bates " Its new and different but it is one our technical experts say needs  serious evaluation."

There will also be a phone session between the Mayor,  and  Solicitor General and Minister repsponsible  for  Public Safety, John Les.     Mayor Colin Kinsley says John Les is in Halifax and is  making time to talk about the  recommendations approved by Prince George City Council last night.  Those  recommendations call on government to  hire the experts needed to  prepare a special analysis of  the flood prevention and mitigation options for Prince George.

Then  the Mayor will meet with  industry reps to discuss their concerrns. Winton Global President John Elmslie says  the work  to raise River Road  has to be stopped, as  the Winton Global  offices are behind that  berm and  will sink  in any  new surge of water.  The industry group also wants consulatation  on what the flood plan is to protect the quarter of a billion dollars  worth  of assets that are on River Road.

Elmslie had hoped to have  his operations back up and running this week, but the weekend   wave of water prevented that  from happening,.  He has 200 workers  who are either collecting Employment Insurance, or waiting for a cheque. Elmslie  says there is no telling when  workers will be  back on the job, "You heard the ice expert talk, this is a winter condition, and  it could get worse before it gets better."

The other Co-Chair of the Industry group, John Brink says he's heard a lot of words spoken, but none in clarity  " Things are happening now, like the exclusion of the offices of Winton Global,  are happening arbitrarily. we need to have more clarity, there are too many jobs at stake, too much infrastructure, too many homes, there has  to be clarity.  There has to be a unified approach.  We mean it in earnest, we want to be at the table, decisions have to be made jointly, and we will be there, working and doing it together."

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