Some landowners are unhappy, but county and Guelph-Eramosa officials have agreed to proceed with a $190,000 drainage project along the 8th Line that will see residents paying about one third of the overall cost.
In attendance at a public meeting on Monday night were many of the owners of the 66 lots or part lots affected by flooding and who will be on the hook for $68,414 of the cost.
Individual landowner costs range from $75 to $9,514 depending on the benefit they will receive from the work, which includes adding a second culvert on County Road 86, enlarging a culvert on Schaefer Road, deepening open ditches and adding two culverts on private property.
Bruce Dewbury, whose assessed portion of the work totals about $4,000, told council it is unfair he has to pay one of the highest prices, considering he has perhaps been the most affected by flooding.
“I didn’t think we signed a blank cheque,” Dewbury said, referring to a 2006 petition residents submitted to the township, requesting the drainage on the 8th Line East near County Road 86 be improved.
He later charged that his assessment essentially means his tax bill will be doubled this year, and said, considering the amount of taxes he has paid over the years, “I’ve paid my way.” He wondered why the total cost couldn’t be spread over the entire township or include the whole county.
Paul Johnson, of the county’s engineering department, said the county is not responsible for building the homes in the area that have caused the flooding problems.
However, he noted the county is contributing about $70,000 towards the cost – plus the past replacement of a culvert under Dewbury’s driveway – even though there is “very little, if any, benefit to the county.”
Mayor Chris White said the township is also picking up about one third of the overall cost already, when it is the landowners who will benefit. He added the concept of basing landowner assessments on the benefit they will receive makes sense.
But landowner Pauline Hall, whose portion is also $4,000, agreed with Dewbury and said the cost should at least be split evenly among the owners of the 66 affected lots or part lots.
Johnson again stressed that the assessment is based on benefit, or more specifically, the area that will be drained.
Dewbury wondered aloud how bad the flooding has to get before it becomes the township or county’s responsibility. “Do we need to be in boats?” he asked noting that scenario may not be that far off.
Resident Nick Wetzel, whose family is on the hook for almost $3,200, said the assessment process is nothing new; it is based on provincial legislation.
“This is the way it’s done with drains,” Wetzel said, adding if anyone appeals their assessment it will only drive up the cost for everyone else.
Township drainage engineer Tom Pridham, of R.J. Burnside and Associates, confirmed the cost for any appeal to the Ontario Drainage Tribunal would be considered part of the overall project cost and assessed to the owners of the affected lots.
White said the area in question is not the only one in the municipality to experience serious flooding. He explained the drainage work costs money and the township can’t pay for it all without a considerable rise in taxes.
“There’s a million things wrong with this,” added councillor Doug Breen of the current situation.
But if the drainage was properly addressed when the homes in the area were built, landowners would have paid 100% of the total bill – and not 30% – through the purchase price of the homes, Breen said.
Johnson and Pridham confirmed that would have indeed been the case.
When Dewbury asked point blank if the new culvert on County Road 86 would be able to handle the increased flow from eight proposed homes, Pridham simply replied, “Yes.”
When it came time to decide, both Johnson, on behalf of the county, and township councillors – which voted unanimously (councillor Roger Knapp was absent) – and confirmed their desire to proceed with the project.
Council then unanimously approved the first and second reading of a bylaw to that effect, including a provision requiring landowners to pay $500 (or less) within 60 days of completion and the remainder over seven years.
Pending a court of revision date on Aug. 3 and providing there are no appeals to the Ontario Drainage Tribunal, council is expected to give the bylaw final approval on Sept. 7. The project is expected to be completed later this year.
