COBDEN — Briefs from the Nov. 5 Whitewater Region Township meeting.
Chief Building Official Doug Schultz told council that Firehall Lane, which is the road to the Haley Station firehall, is not owned by the municipality.
When the lane was developed, Ron Gilmour was deputy-fire chief and looked after the Haley’s area, he believes.
Years ago, the property was surveyed but the transfer of property never occurred, Mr. Schultz said. He believes former reeve Alvin Stone and Mr. Gilmour had a falling out and the transfer of property just never occurred, he said.
“Now we have a situation where we do not own property to get to our firehall,” he said.
Mayor Labow asked if the township has a legal right of way to the firehall.
Reeve Don Rathwell said there’s a rink across from the firehall and that’s the same road used to get there.
Mr. Schultz said there was never a right of way to the rink that used to be down there. There is no right of way shown on the maps, he said. There is a short cut to Northcote, but not a right of way, he explained. In a letter from the municipal lawyer M.I. Instance regarding the road, it was noted Mr. Gilmour is looking for $5,000 for the purchase of the necessary property. The only other expense would be Mr. Instance’s fee, which is $750 plus disbursements.
There is a well Mr. Gilmour uses close to the road and there was discussion that it be surveyed to see whose property it is on if there were to be a land transfer, Mr. Schultz said. However, the township and Mr. Gilmour have both agreed no survey is required.
It was agreed to forward both issues to the development committee for the new council to review and make a decision on.
Chief administrative officer Christine FitzSimons said the lawyers representing the two parties are working out the details.
Too much water
Councillor Cathy Regier said she has received emails and phone calls regarding water pooling in a corner on private property on Finchley Road and believes it has to do with the culvert that is currently there.
Ms. FitzSimons said public works manager Bill Misener spoke to the property owner.
“He’s concerned about how much responsibility is ours and how much responsibility is the private property owners,” she said.
Mr. Misener has a plan to deal with the situation but is away on vacation, and will bring the plan to council.
Councillor Joey Trimm said this is a “long-standing problem.”
When he was road superintendent for the former Township of Westmeath there was a water course there that intersected with the road, he explained. He believes the water course was altered.
People have riparian rights, he said, which means a water course cannot be altered.
When the road was built, a culvert was put there so the water could flow under the road, which it has always done, Coun. Trimm explained.
“That did not please the downstream farmer and at some point there was a huge ditch constructed to re-route the water past a whole lot of people who do not need this water,” he said. “It doesn’t work well. A previous owner and I had very loud fights about this. But, the culvert remained so that the water would flow through.”
When Hal Johnson was road super, he decided to raise the culvert, Coun. Trimm said. By doing this, the culvert will now only carry water in the spring if there’s an overflow, he added. Now, it backs up at every rainfall and because the ditch will not work, the water is in everybody’s front yard.
“The solution is to obey riparian law and put the culvert where it should be and the farmer, unfortunately, needs to deal with the water, which is a tile drain issue.
“The culvert should never have been raised,” he added. “It’s not at the bottom of the road.”
Mayor Jim Labow said the other issue is it’s fairly flat land in that area, which means it doesn’t take much for the water to pool and go back onto the other properties.
He recalls the former property owner blocking the lower side of the road with a hay bale.
It was agreed the new council, which takes over on Dec. 1, can deal with the issue.
Farmers receive compensation
Three farmers put in claims for livestock killed by wildlife.
A total of $1,930 was paid out. The farmers are Ben Snyder, Chris Grant and Blair Black.
This money is paid by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
