Riverview, NB residents express concerns over potential charge to upgrade streets

The Town of Riverview, N.B. recently sent a letter to homeowners on some streets saying that major work will have to be done to upgrade their streets and residents will have to pay for part of it.

The town plans to upgrade water mains, sewer lines, catch basins, concrete curbs and fire hydrants on six streets: Hawkes Street, Ashburn Avenue, Prescott Drive, Fatima Drive, Olive Street and Wentworth Drive. The work will also consist of repaving the roads.

The $4 million project would see homeowners pay a one time levy of $115-per-metre of frontage on their property, averaging about $3,000 per home.

Residents like Doug Maltby say the work is long overdue and they are willing to pay.

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“If you look up and down the street all you see is patch work, cracked pavement, ditches, mosquitoes multiply in those ditches, it looks basically like a second class neighborhood, and it isn’t,”  Maltby said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "If you look up and down the street all you see is patch work, cracked pavement, ditches, mosquitoes multiply in those ditches, it looks basically like a second class neighborhood, and it isn't,"  Maltby said.

However other residents, like Ben Black,  say that infrastructure projects are already being paid through the residents’ property taxes.

He has circulated a petition asking residents to oppose the upgrades.

“Everybody agrees that the work needs to be done, but there’s lots of people on fixed income on this street, and I don’t know where they think they’re gonna get the money from,” Black said.

The petition has garnered enough signatures that it may require Riverview town council to have a unanimous vote at Monday’s meeting in order for the project to proceed.

“Three streets have met the threshold of 50 per cent of the assessed value and have indicated that they do not support the project proceeding or do not support the charge related to their property,” said Riverview Chief Administrative Officer Colin Smith

Those opposed to the project can voice their opinion at a town council meeting Monday night.

“If people have changed their mind that may change the procedure but if it stays as is, it would always have to have a unanimous support of council for the project to proceed,” Smith said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "If people have changed their mind that may change the procedure but if it stays as is, it would always have to have a unanimous support of council for the project to proceed," Smith said.

He said the cost of the work planned is $4 million with the levy on individual properties making up about 14 per cent of the total cost.

Residents can pay their share upfront or over the next 10 years.