A large number of citizens attended Tuesday’s Council meeting to voice their concerns about a planned upgrade to the drains and ditches in the area of Bill’s Corners and the 9th Concession.
The project will cost the county and residents close to $925,000. Residents adjacent to the project will pay a portion of that through individual assessments. These assessments range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars. There was a fair bit of confusion among residents on how the assessments were calculated. However, Mayor Amy Martin reminded that this meeting was to discuss the design and location of the drains and culverts, and not the resident’s individual assessments.
Many who came to the meeting took the opportunity to ask questions and a common thread emerged. The majority of residents, wanted to know why the work was being done in the first place?
The Drainage Act of Ontario requires the updates to rural and urban drains. Norfolk County staff and the engineering consultant involved insisted that there are many culverts and ditches that need to be replaced or re-dug for this project. The drains and culverts in question, were constructed in 1960 and very little work has been done to them since. Mayor Martin explained that the Province requires work like this to be done and waiting could increase cost to the county.
Council voted in favour of adopting the engineer’s report and will revisit the topic during a by-law discussion. It was also noted, Norfolk County has similar drain projects to this one coming due soon.
Written by Jeremy Hall