Farm 911 signs a step closer to approval in Prince Edward County

Farm 911 Emily Project Access Point signs are on the way to agricultural and vacant land in Prince Edward County.

Council, at its Committee of the Whole meeting Thursday, approved amending a bylaw to include a fee of $55 for civic addressing signs. The bylaw will come up for approval at the next council meeting.

The fee covers the cost of material and staff time, with the property owner picking up and installing the sign in the approved location.

Staff also considered a program whereby the municipality would be responsible for a blanket implementation plan to supply and install all signs, but associated costs of more than $200,000, and the demand on staff time resulted with this option being deemed not feasible.

The goal is to address existing field accesses at rural properties to assist with first response and emergency services to enable quick identification of the properties not currently identifiable.

It is estimated there are 2,357 parcels that could potentially be signed.

The Emily Project began after seven-year-old Emily Trudeau died after she fell from, and was struck by a moving tractor on her parent’s beef farm near Tweed in 2014. First responders could not immediately find the scene of the accident.

Emily’s parents, Scott and Angela, and her sisters, helped launch The Emily Project in tribute, at the Hastings County Plowing Match and Farm Show in 2017.

Since, several municipalities have come on board with various methods of implementation.