Province outlines Fiona compensation

Plan for residents who lost their homes delivered at PAB meeting last week

From left: Channel-Port aux Basques Mayor Brian Button, Premier Andrew Furey, and MHA Andrew Parsons (Burgeo – La Poile) presented details on the compensation package and fielded questions from residents during a meeting last Tuesday evening, Nov. 15. – Courtesy of Gov NL

By Rosalyn Roy Senior Staff Reporter

PORT AUX BASQUES — Residents from around the region filed into the gymnasium of St. James Regional High School last Tuesday, Nov. 15. About 100 families lost their homes when Hurricane Fiona battered the Southwest Coast on Saturday, Sept. 24, and after weeks of living in limbo, they were eager to get some answers. In the weeks following the hurricane, homeowners had expressed growing frustration with the lack of information and answers about compensation.

People filed in as if they were about to attend a church sermon. Those who chatted did so in hushed whispers, even those who loitered in the hallway before slipping into their seats shortly before Premier Andrew Furey, MHA Andrew Parsons (Burgeo – La Poile) and Mayor Brian Button headed to the table set up at the front of the room.

The trio and support staff had invited the displaced residents to the meeting to deliver the broad stroke version of the province’s financial relief package. Along with representatives from the Canadian Red Cross, the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA), and mental health workers from Western Health, the presenters also answered some of the most common questions that residents have been asking since the unveiling of the province’s immediate relief measures following the hurricane, which was $1,000 for each family evacuated temporarily and $10,000 for each family who were permanently displaced. Almost two full months later, some families have yet to receive their money, which is being dispensed by the Canadian Red Cross.

Premier Furey opened the meeting by offering his sympathies to the residents for what they have been endured and thanked them for their patience before reminding them that when the province first announced the $30 million relief package that it would be a trying process.

“We knew that insurance companies, good or bad, weren’t going to cover the loss that was experienced,” admitted Furey. “Now this stage, which is how do we rebuild, where do we rebuild, and have some of the tough conversations that really need to be had, here in this room.”

Furey reassured the residents that Parsons, Button and government were well aware of the individual stories and the community stories, and thanked everyone, including the public, for their input that has helped shape the package, so that it might capture as many of them as possible. He also noted that the package won’t work for everyone, but invited those families with specific situations to consult the support staff before leaving that evening to ensure their needs could be addressed.

The Premier then explained how the compensation for each lost residence will be calculated.

“We’re going to make sure we have a value of your house, a value of the contents of your house, and then a value of the piece of land that the house was sitting on.”

Furey said the plan is not to nitpick the finer points.

“We’re going to assume that if your house was on it and you were paying taxes and you vote with that address, then you own that land.”

Assessors will visit properties and assign values to the homes and contents. The average value of a serviced lot within a community will determine the number for the loss of land. Mayor Button confirmed that in Channel-Port aux Basques, for example, the average current cost of a serviced lot is $33,000. Those three assessments added together will decide the value of a homeowner’s loss.

Homes will assigned a minimum value of $200 per square foot. Homes determined to be worth less than that after an assessment will be elevated to that amount, and homes exceeding the $200 minimum will be assigned the higher value.

Once the total loss amount is calculated, homeowners will be granted some time to consider their options. They can either accept the cash payout, or if they want to rebuild on another plot of land, accept the cash payout less the value of that plot, which the province will buy for them. Homeowners will have some time to consider their options, and an appeal process will also be set up.

“That’s going to take some time, and we know right now that there’s 71 households going through the process, through the assessment with the adjudicators and appraisal to see how much the house is worth,” said Furey. “There’s still about 20 or more left to do after that, and then there are 60 that would be involved in a vulnerable area.”

Those with homes that were damaged and remain habitable, but are located in the vulnerable zone, meaning they would likely not withstand a similar weather event, will be offered the same package. The actual geography of the vulnerable zones remains undecided.

“It is going to take us some time to work with the municipality, Port aux Basques in particular, to ensure that we have defined that zone because there are some legal requirements that we need to work with the town to ensure that we are meeting our obligations to define that side.”

In the meantime, the province will help pay for repairs to those habitable homes. In the event of another predicted extreme weather event, those residents will be sheltered elsewhere, but generally if the home is deemed safe and located within the vulnerable zone, residents are asked to continue living in their home.

With the broad stroke plan outlined, Furey admitted still more needs to be taken into consideration, including damage to commercial structures. An eight unit apartment complex on Water Street East, for example, was one of the first structures to be demolished in the storm’s aftermath because it was blocking the road and posed a hazard to neighbouring homes.

Residents who have yet to receive their $1,000 or $10,000 displacement funds were invited to speak with Red Cross representatives on site. Furey admitted that the province has heard frustrations with the process, and have conveyed its own concerns about the delays to the Red Cross. In addition, the deadline for claims for health and safety requirements, such as medical devices, has been extended until Dec. 31, 2022. The accompanying receipts must be dated between Sept. 24 to Dec. 15, 2022. The application is available on the gov.nl.ca website.

The Premier also took the opportunity to address the We Stand On Guard Again concert that raised 1.69 million, including the federal match. He noted that the concert aired in NL, was performed by NL musicians, and that most donors believed the funds would go to this province and not to the entire Hurricane Relief effort throughout the four Atlantic provinces. However, since the Red Cross is a national organization and not a provincial one, the funds were not earmarked just for NL. Furey stated that he is working to see if that can be changed.

Meanwhile, homeowners who have not yet requested an assessment must contact the DFAA to be added to the queue, and the deadline for that is Jan. 31, 2023. There are seven assessors currently working throughout the area.

Minister Andrew Parsons addressed the vulnerable zone area during the slide presentation, noting that determining the boundaries will require more consultation with the departments of the environment, consultation similar to what Badger and Daniel’s Harbour went through. About eight to ten homes require significant repair to become habitable again, and Parsons promised the province will help homeowners get that done.

“One of the biggest reasons for this is quite simple – I don’t know if we have anywhere else, temporary, to help deal with this range of households, coming this winter. That’s the reality. We’re already dealing with a significant displaced number of people. To add 60 more households to that, I think, it’s certainly not going to make the situation better or easier.”

Once a compensation package is developed, homeowners will be contacted individually by a representative with the Department of Justice and Public Safety to discuss options. To accept a compensation package, Parsons stated that homeowners will have to sign away all rights to their residence and land, similar to residents of resettled communities. They will also have to pay off existing mortgages, and provide all requested documentation to the DFAA. Owners will receive legal advice for this part of the process.

Parsons also shared that not all of those who lost homes have even contacted the province or registered with the relief organizations, and asked them to do so as soon as possible.

Once a home is surrendered and scheduled for demolition, homeowners will be given an opportunity to return and retrieve personal items, provided that the engineers have deemed it safe enough to do so. The Town had asked homeowners to stop retrieving items because it would alter the assessment of contents, but those with newer items wanted to salvage them.

Storage quickly became an issue, but Mayor Brian Button confirmed that the Town had ordered sea cans earlier that day so that displaced residents could store items over the winter. The sea cans are large enough to accommodate boats, motors and ATVs. One of the more common questions asked revolved around damaged infrastructure. For communities with damaged wharves and fishing infrastructure, Furey said that the province is still working with their federal counterparts, including Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and MP Gudie Hutchings (Long Range Mountains), to develop a plan for repair and replacement. The Premier also stressed the cultural significance of that loss to the region’s communities, and their commercial and recreational fishers.

When reviewing the compensation package, Furey spoke about the 15 serviced lots currently available in Port aux Basques.

“It won’t be a first come, first served, so don’t worry if you’re not in the queue for those lots. It will be a random number draw about who gets to choose the lots first.”

Two days later, on Thursday morning, Nov. 17, representatives from the province and the Town met again to further discuss those lots and options for developing more. The existing 15 lots are located in the Grand Bay West area –14 on Dennis’ Road and one on Smallwood Drive. Mayor Button said that even in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, there were inquiries about the lots. “We’ve had companies reach out, wanting to know if could work out a deal where they could have a couple of land lots, put a few homes on it and they can sell it.”

But commercial development is unlikely to happen anytime soon, as the town and province remain focused on displaced families and offering them the earliest possible opportunity to rebuild. Button said the town builds serviced lots as its own contractor and sells them to recoup costs, and that before Fiona, 15 lots were sufficient, as the town normally only sells one or two each year. “After today we’re going to freeze those land lots for now, you know, until we get more information and that we’re ready to try to move forward on things,” said Button.

The Mayor said displaced families need not worry, and that there are options to develop more than enough lots to accommodate every family who wishes to rebuild.

Two of the options being considered are a new road behind and parallel to Smallwood Drive, or areas that can accommodate 50 or more lots near Dennis’ Road. There are currently no plans to develop homes along Hardy’s Arterial.

Meanwhile the existing 15 lots are currently off the market until further notice. Like Premier Furey, Mayor Button believes that some sort of lottery system may be used to give displaced residents a chance at those 15 until the new development can be completed.

Wherever the Town decides to develop new lots, Button stated that the goal is to have them ready by the time the spring construction season gets underway.

“We’ll have these land lots frozen so that it gives equal opportunity for people on them, but still, rest assured that while we’re doing that and holding onto these land lots, we’re pushing for more land lots and starting a process now where we’re going to be looking at kind of, getting the other ones developed, so we can have more ready for spring as well.”

For assistance, contact the province’s Hurricane Fiona coordinator, Joanne Clarke, at (709) 695-9871 or via email at FionaResponse@gov.nl.ca, or visit the Gov NL website.

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