This week, contractors have started site-servicing at the parcels which will host interim housing units.

Interim housing for Jasper residents who lost their homes in the Jasper Wildfire Complex is one step closer to realization.

The Municipality of Jasper’s Director of Recovery, Michael Fark, provided an update from the Jasper Recovery Coordination Centre (JRCC) at Tuesday’s (Oct. 15) regular council meeting.

“We are still waiting for a formal announcement of what the interim housing program will look like from the GOA [Government of Alberta], but we are expecting that announcement will come shortly,” Fark said.

More than 800 Jasper residents had their homes destroyed during the Jasper wildfire in late July. Officials have since been busy mapping out interim housing with GOA partners.

Interim housing is slated for five parcels: two on the west end of Connaught Drive; two at the northeast end of Connaught Drive, adjacent to the future RCMP detachment; and one on parcel 2B, south of the intersection of Highway 16 and 93A where Parks Canada has historically kept infrastructure.

Site servicing at the northeast parcels will take about four weeks. Fark said the 2B site requires additional permitting before site servicing can proceed there.

“Parks Canada regulation requires a public consultation period for the use of public lands, and that is a 30-day notice period or window for collecting that public feedback,” he added.

The public notice and public feedback is required because parcel 2B was not previously used for housing. 

The Alberta government is leading the procurement of the modular housing. Fark said without a formal commitment from the GOA on the number of units, sizing and configuration of the units, he couldn’t at this time specify how many people could be housed in these interim units, but the target density was 40 units per hectare of land.

“We are going to prioritize the site[s] within the municipal boundary first, and certainly those sites will be prioritized for larger units—two-bedroom units that will be suitable for families,” Fark said.

The JRCC anticipates needing all five sites identified, based on their current projections, Fark said.

The municipality has received 580 unique housing applications. Fark said the JRCC would prioritize “essential workers”—a term Mayor Richard Ireland drew attention to on Tuesday as being sensitive to some community members—based on criteria that the municipality would build with its partners.

Regarding Jasper’s temporary housing solutions (utilizing local hotels and outlying accommodations), there have been 148 hotel bookings for workers, including 122 in-house bookings and 26 future bookings, according to the report on the October 15 regular council meeting agenda.

All fire personnel, JRCC staff, essential municipal staff, health workers, education workers and screened vulnerable residents who need temporary accommodations are being housed in local hotels or have found their own solutions.

However some essential workers and vulnerable residents housed in temporary accommodations will require those accommodations be extended beyond November 30, to February 28, according to Fark’s report.

Those extended stays will be on a cost-recovery rate (rent being charged). Until now, the temporary housing in local visitor accommodations has been paid for by the province.

First occupancy of some of the interim housing is anticipated by January/February. That housing is meant to last three years, depending on how other aspects of Jasper’s recovery goes, Fark said.

Debris Removal imminent

Crews will begin demolishing damaged structures as permits are issued, and primary contractor EllisDon will work with the Insurance Bureau of Canada to implement the mass debris removal plan.

On Tuesday, Fark updated council on the process. In order for demolition permits to be issued, EllisDon has sent leaseholder authorizations to insurance companies. As of Tuesday, 42 per cent of leaseholders who require debris removal services had signed on with EllisDon. Fark expects that number to climb as information on pricing is disseminated following the Thanksgiving long weekend.

“We are optimistic the community will see this information and that we will get a significant increase in the number of people signing the required documentation to allow that work to start,” Fark said.

Thirty seven different residential zones within the affected areas have been identified to be remediated; Jasperites can contribute to achieving a critical mass—a necessary operational condition in each of the 37 zones—by getting their authorization approvals in quickly, Mayor Richard Ireland noted.

JRCC moving into Provincial Building

The Alberta government is allowing the JRCC to move into the second floor of the provincial building, and the Disaster Recovery Program funding has been approved, with the first advance expected this week.

Maligne Road reopened; backcountry camping rebooted

Last week, the Maligne Road and backcountry camping reopened in Jasper National Park. Parks Canada is undertaking a hazard assessment for Maligne Canyon and a road safety review for Highway 93A and other roads.

—With files from Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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