Delegation protests drainage delays

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This article was published 25/01/2024 (977 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

People who live and work on Park Avenue came before Brandon City Council on Monday evening to argue against drainage improvements for their neighbourhood being pushed back.

Brian Dornn said he represented residents and businesses on a two-block section of the street concerned that the city’s 10-year capital plan presented in this year’s budget has the Park Avenue relief sewer project delayed until 2030.

The 2022 capital budget listed detailed design for the sewer taking place in 2024 and construction in 2025 and 2026.

“This is a low-lying area of Park Avenue between 13th and 11th streets and the water from the west of the city flows towards this area,” Dornn said. “There is clearly not sufficient infrastructure for water to drain during heavy rain.”

He said a massive rainfall in June 2020 left businesses and houses in the area under two to four feet of water, leading to one home having the walls of its basement cave in.

In June 2023, he said, heavy rainfall caused flooding for some buildings and near-flooding for others.

In talking to property owners in the area, Dornn said there’s a lot of anxiety for the future because of the proposed delay and that many people are now being denied overland flooding insurance.

When rainstorms arrive, he said many residents in the area have taken to stacking furniture in case the worst happens. After large rainfall events end, Dornn estimated the water takes around 45 minutes to an hour to drain.

Though he said he didn’t know the total dollar value of flooding damage done in the area, Dornn said he knows some affected people have launched online fundraisers to recoup some of their losses.

“I realize that there’s a lot of money needed in the upcoming budget to provide infrastructure to allow for new development,” Dornn said. “I would argue, how can the city ignore infrastructure projects that were already on the books for residents who are at risk for further damage and worse?”

The owner of Lux+ Nails Lounge & Spa at the southwest corner of Park Avenue and 13th Street, whose name was not mentioned, also came to the podium to say that since the business moved to that location last June, they’ve already experienced a rainfall event that flooded the basement and blocked access to their front door.

The representative for the area, Coun. Bruce Luebke (Ward 6), said it was a topic he had been discussing with Dornn for the last month. He said general manager of development services Mark Allard told him that there will be a condition assessment in the area this year to check for any sediment blockages, collapsed pipes or anything else affected drainage in the relief sewer.

In reviewing some drainage plans with Allard, Luebke said water from the shopping centre where Canadian Tire is located, nearby car dealerships and the Keystone Centre all drain into the relief sewer that runs underneath Park Avenue.

“Mr. Allard has … thrown some ideas around of possible solutions to hold back water ahead of hitting that Park Avenue sewer,” Luebke said. “He’s also proposing land drainage modelling for 2024, which is not currently in the budget but can be funded through the drainage reserve.”

Coun. Shawn Berry (Ward 7) said the issue reminded him of ongoing drainage concerns along Willowdale Crescent and the concerns Dornn expressed are similar to those his own constituents have raised.

“We gotta remember, it’s not the 50- and 60-millimetre rain events anymore, it’s 20 and 30 that’s doing this and those are so common,” Berry said. “We get them every summer. We just can’t handle it and this is the result.”

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