Town of Essex still moving forward with fixing flooding issues

Although the Town of Essex has been denied the $2.8 million they requested from the provincial and federal government, council said they still plan to move forward with their basement flooding solutions.

The Town of Essex had requested the money from the Small Communities Fund, a joint federal-provincial infrastructure grant program. Even though they were denied their request for funding, Mayor Ron McDermott said he and council had already set money aside in the budget to fix the flooding issues, which have caused problems for residents for more than a year.

Even though McDermott said there is money that can be used for fixing the sanitary sewer issue, it just isn’t fair to be denied.

He said the whole point in asking for the extra funding was to try and alleviate pressure on residents who may have to see taxes go up now because of money needed to fix this issue along with any others for this year.

“We all pay into this pot … (but) we all don’t get money out of it,” said McDermott.

“And you’ve probably read about LaSalle, they’ve been told, Tecumseh’s been told, ‘Oh you’re in great shape, you got lots of money in reserve and because of that, we’re not going to give you any.’ They’re going to give it to the municipalities that are in bad shape, don’t look after themselves … so where is the money going? It’s not to all of us … We all pay into that pot, the pie is so big, we should all get a piece of that pie, not just some.”

Through the SCF, many small communities are provided with funding for projects to help a variety of categories such as transit, waste water, drinking water and local and regional airports.

For Essex, their request was under the waste water category. To McDermott, there’s more to the problem.

“The issues we have aren’t just basement flooding, it’s a health issue. Like there’s literally crap coming up people’s systems in their basements and it shouldn’t be,” said McDermott.

Steps have already been taken to begin finding solutions for the flooding which affects residents in mostly the McGregor and Essex Centre but also in some areas of Harrow.

Prior to asking for this funding, the Town of Essex had already begun smoke-testing, meaning they would force a non-toxic, artificially-created smoke into the pipelines. If any problems were seen in the pipes themselves, the smoke would seep through and make the problem areas visible. Results for this test are still not known and neither are the results for the camera testing, another test with a similar function.

Within the next couple of weeks, McDermott said council will begin sending out requests to companies, asking them what their price is for helping to run the drainage department and figure out how to fix the issues with the sanitary sewer system. The role would be as an assistant drainage supervisor who will eventually become the full-time drainage supervisor. According to deputy mayor Richard Meloche, this person will also help with keeping organization when it comes to flooding complaints by residents who often have had to wait weeks before hearing a call-back.

Although council still plans to move forward, Meloche said one of his concerns is maybe they were turned down simply because of their representation.

“I’m not happy about it, you’re not going to see any politician that would be happy about it, but again, I understand the province has got to try and pick and choose which priorities they think are the most important,” said Meloche.

“I would hope, myself, that it does not have something to do with the fact that we are mostly represented or all in the county represented in the city by NDP representatives at the provincial level. So that would be a terrible thing if that were the reason but it sure makes you wonder if that was the reason.”

McDermott said other than the smoke and camera testing, some possible solutions would be to fix sump pumps, upgrade pumping stations and consider putting in another pumping station to pump water from Essex to a reservoir or lagoon. In the past, there were three lagoon systems to help with this issue but since the sanitary sewage plant came into existence, two of them have since been decommissioned and the other now has solar panels on top of it. If permission is granted and if this ends up being the way to fix the issue, McDermott said the funds are there to get the two lagoons re-established.

An online report by the Town of Essex said another addition to fixing this problem is to develop a comprehensive downspout disconnection program. This was a suggestion by the Flooding Advisory Committee who said if they could disconnect at least some of the downspouts that don’t need to feed into the storm and sanitary sewer systems, it could mean a less likely chance of sewer system overload. When there is a lower volume of water running into the sanitary and storm sewer system, the less likely it is that the system would overload causing basements to flood.

According to McDermott, this issue won’t be fully resolved for at least a year and even then, he said it is hopeful thinking. Essex NDP MP Taras Natyshak continues to push the government for answers. In the meantime, those who do have constant basement flooding are asked to seek out help from the Town’s Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program, which can provide backwater valve installation, sump pump or pit installation and more. The program can only provide for so much of the cost though so be prepared to pay for at least 50 per cent.