The Municipality of Chatham-Kent has decided to hold off on moving forward with recommendations for flooding relief on Erie Shore Dr., despite desperate calls for action from home owners.
At Monday night's council meeting, councillors voted 15-0 for Infrastructure and Engineering Services to consider both proposed solutions from Councillor Trevor Thompson and administration, and come back to council with a report by the end of the year.
Home and cottage owners along Erie Shore Dr. in Blenheim have been faced with many incidents of flooding in recent months, due to strong winds and high water levels.
The proposed solution from administration is to request that Infrastructure and Engineering Services provide technical guidance to homeowners on locations, pit and drainage design, and potential suppliers to help facilitate the installation of private property sump pits.
Councillor Thompson's recommendation is to direct Infrastructure and Engineering Services to work with homeowners to locate and install ten catch basins and gravity drains in the area of Dyke Rd. that will drain into the Burk drainage scheme. He requests that the drains be paid for through a recalculation of the Burk drainage system payment scheme.
Thompson says he understands why council has decided to table the motion. He says "they don't have enough information and I can appreciate that."
"I think what I failed to get across and what they fail to understand, and I don't blame them, is that this has been going around and around for 20 years. The last time we had all the information, it came back here and we cut ten drains into the dyke," says Thompson.
Thompson wants to see the municipality pursue further solutions for the flooding crisis.
"I'd love to see an affordable study, but the study is going to come back too expensive. Nothing will happen and the drainage will continue to be an issue. I hope something can be accomplished, but I don't hold out a lot of hope for the folks of Erie Shore Dr.," says Thompson.
Mayor Randy Hope says he is concerned that council will make decisions based on passion, rather than fact. He says he is worried that council is not fully educated about the flooding situation at Erie Shore Dr. and needs further consultation.
Councillor Jeff Wesley also expressed worries about rushing into recommendations, saying that he does not have a clear picture in his mind of what was being discussed. He also says that it is difficult to choose between Councillor Thompson and the engineering department's recommendations.
In the meantime, the Interim Control Bylaw was passed at council 14-1. This bylaw grants the municipality permission to restrict existing development and land use at Erie Shore Dr. for one year until the flooding crisis is dealt with.
The bylaw prohibits the following:
- Use of any land, building, or structure for any purpose whatsoever, except for a use that lawfully existed on the date of passage of this bylaw
- Be permitted to construct, make alterations that would require a building permit, enlarge a building or structure, except if the construction or alteration is deemed necessary for safety, structural reasons, or flooding protection.
- The reconstruction of a destroyed building or structure, unless approved by the chief building official or general manager
For example, he does not want residents to invest money into flipping houses or renovating until there is a system for dealing with the flooding in place. Norton says the municipality does not want to see people's investments lost. However, he says any measures to protect homes against flooding will be allowed by the municipality, including the grading of streets and yards by the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority.
Council has also voted unanimously to endorse a letter of support to participate as a partner in the "Adapting to the Future, Storm, and Ice Regime in the Great Lakes" proposal in order to develop a Lake Erie Integrated Shoreline Management Plan.
If the proposal is awarded funding by Natural Resources Canada, the municipality would match a share of $50,000 in 2018 and $50,000 in 2019, to be funded through the Strategic Development Reserve. A decision is expected early next year.
Peter Zuzek from Zuzek Inc. is leading the proposal with a team of consulting experts. Zuzek has 25 years of experiencing working on consulting assignments across coastal regions of the world on erosion, flooding, shoreline management, and other risk assessments.
Zuzek says the partnership will allow federal and provincial ministries to come in and work with the municipality. He adds that Chatham-Kent will be used as a case study of climate change in the Great Lakes.
He says these studies are usually not done in non-coastal municipalities like Chatham-Kent.
Mayor Hope, who is on board with the idea, says the flooding is not just a regional issue, but national issue as well. He says "it's everybody's shoreline."