“I want my driveway repaired, or something done, because this is going to happen again.”
What Oyama resident James Reed predicts is going to happen again is another flood. He lives on Middle Bench Road, which is slanted towards his property. That means water runs down his side of the road and when there’s a downpour, the water jumps the curb and makes its way into his house, like it did last June.
“The water went right into the house and basically two or three inches of water right into the basement,” said Reed.
Reed says the District of Lake Country is to blame because the road isn’t engineered properly.
“Here there’s brand new asphalt. Before the flood that asphalt wasn’t there,” said Reed. “There was a very slight berm and I repeatedly told them, it’s going to over again, it’s going to go over. And then after the flood, they decided to repair it.”
Reed says there are also problems with the catch basins.
“It doesn’t drain. It’s got to go across the road and drain into the ditch over there,” he said. “The ditch only has a bit of rock on the top — there’s no pit there. There should be a pit where the water goes into. But there’s no pit. It just goes right into the dirt and backfills.”
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Reed says he’s called the District of Lake Country several times but feels he’s getting the run around.
Lake Country mayor James Baker dropped by to have look for himself. He says the problem with drainage on rural roads has been an ongoing problem, partly because of climate change resulting in heavier downpours. Baker suggests most rural roads in the community, including Middle Bench Road, weren’t designed to handle heavy downpours but says he’s looking into it.
“I’m surprised that the engineer hasn’t responded to the property owner in a more prompt fashion to come and have a look and see,” said Baker. “They are probably of the mind that all that has been done by the municipality has been done.”
Despite the mayor’s promise to have the situation looked at, Reed isn’t holding his breath.
“I’ve had this before where someone has come out promised the world and provided nothing,” he said.
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