The owners of a home on Elora Street North here are hoping town council will step in to stop constant flooding of their backyard.
Robert and Phylis Huntley have appealed to council to determine the source of water that leaves their backyard looking more like a pond two to three times a year – and whether there is any municipal assistance available to rectify the problem.
The couple purchased the property three years ago and their daughter Michele Whiston and her partner, Josh Pilon, also part owner, live there with their three children. The Huntleys want the town to do something to stop the flooding.
“We’ve applied for a municipal grant because we haven’t got any cooperation from anybody,” Phylis said when the Advertiser recently toured the property.
The couple’s concerns have been raised at Minto council twice, and the property has been viewed by an engineer along with public works staff. The town has also pumped the backyard dry three times when water was up about a meter, usually in early spring.
The couple believes the flooding is due to water running off from adjacent properties with a higher elevation. The Huntleys say the flooding hasn’t allowed the couple to plant any gardens to take advantage of the backyard.
According to Phylis, they have been told the town is not responsible for fixing the problem because it involves private land. The couple has also questioned whether a drainage plan was approved when two new homes were built about three years ago diagonally across from their backyard.
The conflict and subsequent drainage petition has resulted in Minto council hiring an engineering firm, K. Smart Associates Limited, to determine the feasibility of putting in a municipal drain and to explore other options.
Engineer Neal Morris is currently looking into possible solutions, including a municipal drain. A site study was done on April 4 with town officials and the engineer attending.
“According to the Drainage Act, municipal drains are drainage works to provide drainage by any means. During the meeting, a number of alternatives were discussed, including two underground gravity systems, a pumping system and possible rising of the land with above-ground swales,” Morris said of his firm’s work.
“Due to the number of alternatives and complexity of the drain I have not completed my report to council yet.”
When asked whether a study was done prior to construction of the newer homes behind the Huntleys’ property, Morris replied, “I have not received a drain study. So I don’t know if a drain study was done.”
Minto’s chief administrative officer Bill White told the Advertiser a drain study was done for the newer homes when the building permit was issued.
“The petition for the 62 Elora Street property was accepted by council and council has appointed K. Smart Associates to examine the area requiring drainage and to prepare a report to resolve the petitioners’ drainage concerns,” White said.
“We invited all the landowners on the block to the on-site meet to determine the drainage concerns. At that meeting a low area near the middle of the block was identified as the area requiring drainage.”
The Huntleys say they are also concerned about the potential cost of a municipal drain. Under the Drainage Act all property owners benefitting from such a drain are responsible to share its costs, and all have to agree for the drain to move ahead.
Phylis said not all the neighbours agree and she was told by town officials the cost could be as high as $40,000 to remedy the problem. The couple said the flooding seems to be getting worse with each year.
“We had a little (flooding) the first year, a little more the next year and a lot this year,” Phylis said.
She conceded she and her husband are frustrated by the town’s inability to have work done to stop the flooding.
“We’re being strung out,” she added. “It’s just been one thing after the other. Nobody wants to help us.”
White countered, “The town’s position has been that this is a private matter. The town helped facilitate a solution that required mutual agreement between neighbours. However, the neighbours were not able to agree to the implementation of a long-term solution.”
Council expects the engineering report in the next couple of months.
