Dear residents of SYSRC:

As you know, the incidence of catastrophic wildfires has increased dramatically across the country in recent years and New Brunswick has not been spared.

I am happy to inform you that SYSRC signed an agreement with Transitional Solutions Inc. (TSI) to have them develop a Wildlife Resiliency Plan for Sunbury York South Community.  The purpose of the plan is to help us understand our specific wildfire threats and implement locally appropriate actions that reduce risk, protect lives and property, and strengthen the community’s overall emergency preparedness. The process, called FireSmart will help establish a clear path from wildfire risk assessment to practical, prioritized, and implementable solutions.

To better understand the current state and the future needs in the community, TSI will undergo a comprehensive engagement and collaboration process over the coming months. The engagement will serve as an education to the consulting team on the past, present, and future needs, paired with extensive research, analysis, and observations for the collaborative development of the Wildfire Resiliency Plan.

Engagement will be in the form of surveys, site visits, interviews, and workshops with ongoing communications on the project.

In conversations with TSI, I stressed that they needed to pay special attention to the Covered Bridge Estate and Charters Settlement areas as many of you have brought to my attention the dangerous situation due to limited access into the sub-divisions. 

The project will cost $92,000 to be shared as follows:

• $61,000 Federal government
• $31,000 Provincial Government
• $3,944 SYSRC (SYSRC’s portion of the HST on the $92,000)

We agreed to the contract late last week and the work has already started.  Over the coming days TSI will be doing a complete community wide site visit with the Oromocto Fire Chief and will be in contact with the New Maryland Fire and Fredericton Fire Chiefs.   They will also be contacting our EMO committee. They have also sent a very extensive document request and Cindy is in the process of tracking them down.

As mentioned, TSI is planning community engagement.  The second statement provides their engagement plan and project schedule for your information.

Should you be contacted to engage with the TSI team, by way of email, we encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to positively impact the future direction of Sunbury York South Rural Community’s wildfire resiliency. The TSI team is flexible in their processes, and should you wish to engage in a format different than that presented to you, please do not hesitate to connect with the TSI team.

Thank you for your support in this process. TSI is excited to be working with the community on this important project and I share that excitement.

Don Ferguson
Supervisor SYSRC