Clearview Township council made an exception to the rule this week and sent staff out to help clean up debris from an August 2 storm.
Councillor Thom Paterson asked that township staff be deployed to collect branches and trees that came down during a severe thunderstorm.
Normally residents are responsible for clearing the debris on their own while township staff clear municipally owned properties but Paterson asked that an exception be made because there were a large number of trees downed and people were asking for assistance.
“There is a fear that if you do something special for people one time you have to do it for everyone all of the time but it is not an expectation,” said Paterson.
The motion passed without support from councillors Doug Measures, Deborah Bronée and Robert Walker.
“I don’t think it is the responsibility of public works to do that kind of a service,” said Bronée.
Measures pointed out that it wasn’t a significant weather event according to Environment Canada.
The debris was collected on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the future, residents are welcome to call the township’s public works emergency line at 705-445-2100.