Mapleton council will spend almost $20,000 to repair tennis court damaged during massive flooding here on June 23.
Council approved awarding the repair project to MEI Paving Contractors, which submitted the only quotation for the project at $19,860.
Funds for the project will be drawn from the parks reserve account, “until funding or a portion thereof, if any, may be secured from the provincial flood relief program,” states a Sept. 12 report from public works director Sam Mattina.
The report notes the entire area of Glen Allan Park was submerged in over one metre of water during the flooding, which caused significant damage to the tennis court facility.
The tennis court was originally built in 2013 for $60,000, with the cost for the project split between the volunteer Glen Allan Parks Association and the Township of Mapleton.
Councillor Lori Woodham questioned the wisdom of rebuilding a facility in a floodplain.
“It’s clear that if we ever receive rain it’s going to happen again,” said Woodham. “Are we wise to continue putting something in a place where it is prone to being flooded?”
Mattina replied, “The flooding that we sustained on June 23 was a significant event that doesn’t happen very often. Yes, the park is susceptible, but the frequency of this type of storm is few and far between.”
While noting, “it’s up to council to make the decision,” Mattina stated, “I don’t recommend not repairing the park, or the tennis court, for the value that’s proposed because it is an asset that’s used and is expected to be repaired … to relocate the park at this point in time, I don’t think I would recommend it.” However, Mattina suggested council could make a recommendation to the planning department about future park locations and “perhaps build them up a little higher.”
Councillor Marlene Ottens pointed out, “Parks are generally placed on floodplains because they are one of the few things that can be … I guess I agree with the public works director that this was an unusually heavy rain event.”
CAO Brad McRoberts noted the situation on June 23 was unique in a number of ways, in addition to the abnormally heavy rainfall in a short period of time.
“I think the key factor about this event is that the reservoir at the Conestogo Dam was basically at its recreational level, and had no capacity,” McRoberts explained.
“They had to release the water right away … so that water starts to rush down the river and that’s why we had that damage downstream.”
McRoberts said the park is prone to “minor flooding” during normal spring melt or heavy rainfall situations.
“I don’t have an issue with reinvesting the money,” said councillor Michael Martin, noting Drayton also has parkland on the floodplain.
However, he added, “These one-in-50 or one-in-a-100-year events are becoming more and more common … Going forward I do think we need to incorporate that into our planning or our thinking about where we’re placing these parks.”
Councillor Dennis Craven observed it’s harder to avoid using floodplain areas for parks in small communities.
“If you have municipalities with 30 and 40 thousand people in them, which we don’t, then you’d have more opportunity to put parks where they are not in a floodplain. You can put them in next to subdivisions and so on …” said Craven.
