Watch above: Homeowners are upset after Saskatoon city council opted not to offer financial assistance to those affected by the riverbank slope failure. Wendy Winiewski reports on an emotionally charged city council meeting.
SASKATOON – At an emotionally charged city council meeting, councillors opted not to offer financial assistance to homeowners affected by an unstable riverbank slope. Saskatoon city councillors voted Monday to wipe their hands clean of the situation and for the city to have no further involvement in the issue aside from monitoring the area.
The vote wasn’t unanimous.
In a rare move, Mayor Don Atchison, the city manager and councillors excused themselves from the meeting to discuss implications with the city’s legal team. When they returned, seven of the 11 voted for the city to have no further involvement in the situation.
Councillors said the choice to monitor is one that is fiscally responsible to taxpayers as remediation could cost as much as $20-million.
READ MORE: Monitor slope failure: City of Saskatoon executive committee
The decision didn’t sit well with area residents.
“Ultimately, the city is not being run by our councillors, who we elect,” stated homeowner Kent Rathewell.
“It’s being run by a lawyer who we do not elect.”
“You hung us out to dry and everybody in this room knows it,” said Patrick Casey.
READ MORE: Homeowners say Saskatoon shirking responsibility for slope repair
Rathwell and others have evacuated as a safety precaution. Since 2012, the slope has shifted nearly three metres, with 11 homes directly at risk
Property owners had hoped the city would step forward and offer assistance by fixing its own alley which is between 11th Street and Saskatchewan Crescent – the two streets where the affected homes are located.
Atchison told Global News even though the city doesn’t need the alley, fixing it won’t solve the problem.
“Fixing Cherry Lane is not going to fix the situation,” said Atchison.
“Consequently, at this time, we’re just going to have to leave it with residents right now to see what type of solution they’ll come up with. Hopefully they’ll get together and they can come up with something that will be positive for all of them.”
Watch below: Mayor Don Atchison discusses the most recent city council meeting which included a vote on how the city will deal with the riverbank slope failure
A video was shown at the meeting showing water gushing from the city’s storm water drains, saturating the land. Residents believe that contributed to the failure.
The city disagrees with that assessment.
“The very steep nature of the slope, the types of soil we have underneath and the ground water conditions, that’s ultimately what caused it to slide and that’s what ultimately made it unstable,” Galen Heinrichs, the city’s water and sewer engineering manager, said last week referring to a report from Golder and Associates.
Councillors have made mediation available to homeowners but the city will not be part of the process.
Wendy Winiewski contributed to this story
Comments