TAMRMS#: B09
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Emergency Management Bylaw Amendments
Presented by: Percy Janke, Deputy Chief-Administration and Planning
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RECOMMENDATION(S)
recommendation
That Community Living Standing Committee recommend to Council that Bylaw 04-2020 provided as attached to the February 10, 2020 Agenda Report titled “Bylaw 04-2020 Emergency Management Bylaw”, receive three readings.
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PURPOSE OF REPORT
An update of the City of St. Albert’s current Emergency Management Bylaw is required for compliance with provincial legislation. The Provincial Government has updated the Emergency Management Act and Local Authority Emergency Management Regulations.
ALIGNMENT TO COUNCIL STRATEGIC PRIORITY
N/A
ALIGNMENT TO SERVICE DELIVERY
Service Name: Emergency Management and Preparedness
Service Definition: Provision of the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC). Coordinate emergency management, oversight and preparedness for City of St. Albert including Emergency Social Services (ESS).
Current Service Level: The EOC is prepared for an overwhelming event with trained staff ready to make EOC operating within 30 minutes and fully staffed within two hours of major incident. Incident Command System Trained staff, “call back” ready who can have the EOC operating within 30 minutes and fully staffed within 2 hours of a major incident. All EOC staff are trained to the Incident Command System with ongoing course offering to provide continual staff availability and improvement.
ALIGNMENT TO COUNCIL (OR COMMITTEE) DIRECTION OR MANDATORY STATUTORY PROVISION
N/A
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
To bring this Bylaw in compliance with Provincial regulation changes. The Emergency Management Bylaw was reviewed with input from legal services on changes in the Act and Regulations that have come into effect. Areas of challenge and Emergency Management bylaws from other municipalities were reviewed in this process. These are key areas of change:
Declaring, renewing and terminating a State of Local Emergency (SOLE) is simplified under the new Bylaw. Declaring, renewing or terminating a SOLE is delegated to the Emergency Management Advisory Committee or the Mayor with the Quorum of one.
Designating an individual to be the Director of Emergency Management for the City of St. Albert must reside within the bylaw. This is changed to the CAO from the Director of Emergency Services (Fire Chief) with the ability to delegate powers, duties and functions. This provides flexibility for the CAO to designate the work associated with Director of Emergency Management position to those qualified within the organization utilizing powers of both the Emergency Management Act and Municipal Government Act.
The existing bylaw was written under previous legislation. In 2017, the City of St. Albert brought a resolution forward to the AUMA supported by the City of Spruce Grove requesting an adjustment in how a SOLE could be declared. The recent provincial legislation change allows for a streamlined approach to declaring a SOLE.
STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS OR ENGAGEMENT
N/A
IMPLICATIONS OF RECOMMENDATION(S)
Financial:
None at this time.
Legal / Risk:
The changes made to the Bylaw are in compliance with the new Provincial legislation.
Program or Service:
None at this time.
Organizational:
None at this time.
ALTERNATIVES AND IMPLICATIONS CONSIDERED
If Council does not wish to support the recommendation, the following alternative could be considered:
Alternative 1. Keep the current bylaw knowing that there are issues with declaring a SOLE under the current bylaw, also that this bylaw does not comply with changes in the provincial emergency management act and regulation.
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Report Date: February 10, 2020
Author: Percy Janke
Department: Emergency Services
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer: Kerry Hilts
Chief Administrative Officer: Kevin Scoble