Sarnia mayor: We're not billing U.S. for Float Down

As he watched from his apartment building on the St. Clair River, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley knew weather conditions weren't ideal for the Float Down.

"I was out early in the morning and knew it wasn't going to go well," he said.

When he turned out to be right, Sarnia officials assembled quickly to help about 1,500 Americans who ended up on Canadian shores.

The mayor is happy with the way the situation was handled. However, he said, it came at a cost to the city's $130 million operating budget. With overtime costs and additional expenses incurred by each assisting department, the city of Sarnia spent $8,181.77 on helping Americans get back to the U.S.

While the expenses are not ideal, Bradley said the city should be able to make room in the budget.

"I want to make it clear that the costs were presented because of the media inquiry," he said. "It wasn't to present a bill to someone. In the scheme of things, (the departments) should be able to absorb these costs."

Sarnia Police Service had the largest cost of $3,405.92.

When floaters landed in Canada without passports or identification, Canada Border Services Agency contacted the Canadian Border Patrol and devised a plan to use public buses to bring them back across the Blue Water Bridge. Sarnia Transit, which provided 10 buses, drivers and supervisory staff to make a total of 19 trips to the U.S., incurred $1,977.97 in costs.

The city's public works department worked to close streets for convening U.S. citizens; its total cost was $712.40.

A Sarnia Fire Rescue Service Marine Unit vessel, as well as a fire apparatus, rescue truck and crew members assisting on land used $1,435.88 in resources. They assisted in removing people out of the water.

Members of the parks and recreation department staff cleaned up garbage left by floaters on the Canadian shore at a cost of $649.60.

Despite the costs, Bradley said the situation was handled the right way, keeping in mind the safety of those involved.

"With that many people and the amount of alcohol involved, people not wearing much more than what they had in the river, (not providing services) would have created other issues," he said. "I think we prevented a souring of the mood of the event."

As the Float Down has received worldwide attention because of Americans arriving on shore, Bradley wants to use the opportunity for "shock advertising" for next year's event.

"1,500 Americans showed up on our shores and we welcomed them," he said. "It was extremely well handled by all the agencies involved on both sides of the border. We always try to entrap the American tourists in Sarnia, so why not do it the right way?"

Marysville resident Joe Wiedenbeck made a Go Fund Me account to pay back Sarnia for the trouble, but did not expect it to garner so much attention.

"I did it out of sarcasm," he said. "Everyone wanted to complain (on social media), but no one wanted to do anything about it."

Wiedenbeck has never attended the Float Down, citing safety reasons. He is working on getting in touch with Bradley to name Sarnia as the beneficiary of the funds. He said it's nice to see people caring enough to donate, but would rather not have the attention on himself.

"I just got a call from The New York Times. I wish everyone would stop calling me," he said.

As of 2:30 p.m., more than $1,500 of the $9,000 goal had been raised.

The effort has been titled "How She Going Eh?" Bradley has seen the fundraiser and says it is appreciated.

Contact Sydney Smith at (810) 989-6259 or at ssmith10@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @SydneyS_mith.