Winter transitioned into spring, soon it will be summer, but work continues to recover from the ice storm that clobbered Barrie in late March.
"This is years to clean up," said Mayor Alex Nuttall, as council approved a direct motion Wednesday to request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing activate the Municipal Disaster Recovery Assistance Program (MDRAP) to allow the city to submit a claim for costs associated with the ice storm.
According to a note from Kevin Rankin, Barrie's manager of parks and forestry operations, clean-up from the ice storm is close to $25 million (24,954, 956).
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Under MDRAP, eligible costs up to the approximate threshold of $8.5 million would be funded by the province at 75 per cent, with 95 per cent funding available for eligible costs that exceed this threshold.
Rankin estimates the city will be saddled with a $2.9 million expense.
The preliminary estimated eligible costs for cleaning up from the ice storm are as follows:
Contracted Services: $23,881,586
Equipment Rentals: $474,870
Assistance from other municipalities: $111,500
Municipal Asset Repairs: $90,000
Overtime Expenses: $227,000
Capital and Operating Equipment Expenses: $170,000
Total Projected Expenses: $24,954,956
Estimated Disaster Relief Funding: $22,013,355
Estimated Municipal Expenses: $2,941,601
In his memo, Rankin explained the clean-up operation is taking place in phases.
"The damage to trees and vegetation will have a lasting impact that will take years to recover," he said.
Phase 1 (completed):
- Getting travelled portion of streets open/cleared and ensuring driveway entrances are
open. - Removing immediate hazards over roads and sidewalks.
Phase 2 (underway and status update as of May 27, 2025 is as follows):
Clearing sidewalks and collecting downed branches on boulevards and collection of
private brush piled on boulevards and within road rights-of-way (projected completion
June 7th)
- Inventory of damaged trees – by Tree Risk Assessor Qualified and Certified Arborists
(Streets 100% complete, Parks 95% complete, forest edges & trails 60% compete) - Clean-up of fallen debris from damaged trees in all city parks (90% complete)
Removing trees that sustained critical damage, as identified by a Tree Risk Assessor
Qualified and Certified Arborist, and pose an immediate or high-risk hazard (80% of
4,400 completed)
- Please note that trees identified for removal by the initial assessor are rechecked by a certified arborist prior to removal. Arborists will be
recommending pruning and other measures to save as many damaged trees
as possible, however all trees that are structurally unsound, or will become so
in a short time period will have to be removed. Authority to prune, remove
and plant City owned trees is granted in the Public Tree By-law (2014-116). - Pruning broken (and hanging) branches from trees, (46% of 9,300 completed)
- Clearing fallen city trees from private yards/back yards. There are 125 km of forest
edge bordering on private properties, with currently 893 known locations where tree
branches or whole trees have fallen along this edge. (16% completed) - Clearing of fallen and hanging trees and branches over 150km of trails (10%
completed)
Phase 3 (not started):
Stump removal (grinding out) of all destroyed trees
- Replanting of trees
- Long term care of damaged trees (monitoring and additional pruning, watering and
fertilizing as necessary) - Forest Health Assessments completed to determine short- and long-term
management needs for heavily affected forested areas - Complete City canopy assessment to ascertain total canopy loss as a result of the
ice storm.
The city is also going to draft an application for funding from the federal government through the 2 Billion Trees program. The deadline to apply is Sept. 18.
"I would think that because of our significant tree damage, we would be looked upon very favourably on that program," Rebecca James Reid, General Manager of Access Barrie, told council.
During May, 47 to 93 crews worked across the city completing clean-up each day. The crews included city forestry staff, pre-qualified forestry contractors and their subcontractors, and brush and material collection contractors.
As of May 29, 2025, the landfill has accepted approximately 9,500 tonnes of wood, brush and branch waste from city staff/contractors and residents since the beginning of April.
"Landfill hours were adjusted to increase operating days and times for residents, contractors and city staff to deposit material," Rankin explains in his note. "Tipping fees were waived at the landfill site until Saturday, May 31, 2025, to support storm clean-up."
The city is conducting one final curbside collection pass until June 7 to ensure all remaining ice storm debris is collected.
"It was incredible, the storm, and then the actual response from our staff," said Deputy Mayor Robert Thomson. "Staff went over and above."
"I think of surrounding municipalities that didn't receive the same level of service. There are certain times on council where you're happy and you're grateful to be a councillor. Times like this, you're honoured just to be a resident."
