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on their agenda. Included was a report by CAO Shane Ray on costs incurred by the RM in recent weeks.
One of them referred to a $127,000 cheque ready to be issued to a company for their work on a cyberbreach at the RM office last year.
“This is one of the companies that’s been working on the cyber incident,” Ray told council. “It’s important to note that this will be covered through insurance. We are paying that upfront and then we’ll be reimbursed by insurance once we’ve finished things up with them.”
The cyberbreach was originally discovered by RM staff on December 15. Six months later, little information has been forthcoming from the municipal office regarding the nature or severity of the breach.
Inquiries from The Citizen resulted in a single response from the mayor, indicating that council was not allowed to discuss details of the data breach.
On June 4, residents received notification that the RM’s systems are now back up and running, allowing the municipality to once again issue tax and utility bills.
Emergency Response
The RM’s emergency response coordinator, Harold Schlamp, attended the meeting virtually to provide an update on his continued work within the municipality.
“The municipal emergency plan was reviewed and endorsed by council by way of resolution,” Schlamp said. “It has been approved by Manitoba Emergency Measures for another year.”
Also recently approved is Schlamp’s position for another three-year term.
While natural disasters haven’t been an issue for residents of Ritchot yet this year, Schlamp’s role is to actively ready the municipality for unexpected changes.
Thankfully, Ritchot experienced no spring flooding this year despite the fact that Schlamp and his team were told to prepare for some possibility.
At this point, tornado response and fire safety are on Schlamp’s mind. He will be working with the local fire chief to discuss the RM’s tornado contingency plan.
“This will ensure that we have a working template to consider in case of a touchdown event,” Schlamp said.
If dry conditions persist throughout the summer, Schlamp says the RM’s water supply could also be impacted.
“I had a meeting with [operations manager] Mike Dumaine about the lack of rainfall and what affect this will have on our water supply. He assured me that, at this time, there’s no concerns, but he anticipates sending out a water conservation policy this summer.”
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