Saint John staff to review infrastructure in flood prone Glen Falls

Common Council in Saint John has voted to have city staff look into current storm water infrastructure in Glen Falls, a chronically flood-prone area in the city’s east side.

The decision follows a January rain storm that led to severe flooding worsened by melting ice and snow

READ MORE: Saint John neighbourhood pulls together as water rises

Ward 4 Councillor Ray Strowbridge is behind the request for a review and believes the status quo is not an option.

“We need to be able to do better than that because there was significant damage to some local businesses as well as people’s homes,” said Strowbridge.

Norm Ganong owns a business plaza along Golden Grove Road. His business was among those impacted by flooding.

“I pay over $1,200 a week in property tax for this complex and ah with this last flood it’s probably dropped the property value down twenty five to thirty per cent”

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WATCH: Saint John hit with flooding

2:04 Saint John neighbourhood pulls together as water rises

One of the major flood remediation efforts undertaken over the past quarter century in a holding pond which will be among the items city staff will be looking into.

“Is it (holding pond) still at the depth and can it hold that capacity and we also don’t do any maintenance on it as far as clearing the snow off of it in the winter time,” Strowbridge said.

Ganong feels the real issue lies with nearby Marsh Creek which empties into the harbour. He says it has had to endure increased development in the area and changes are needed to accommodate for that.

“There are obstacles and debris … that haven’t been cleaned out in 15 years because of environment issues,” he said. “They have to get past those issues. If they can go dredge the harbour at the end of the (Courtney Bay) Causeway from all that silt, they should be able to dredge the Marsh Creek and make it wider.”

READ MORE: Flash flooding around Sussex, N.B. forces evacuations

Strowbridge is looking for new solutions at the end of the day.

“Whether it’s, you know, re-digging out those holding ponds and those trenches,” Strowbridge said. “Maybe it’s adding some of the thawing chemicals to the storm drains ahead of time.”

There’s no word on when staff will report back to council with its findings.