Beny Masella informed the Town Council meeting in August that while the Town of Montreal West did not have the authority to work on a city-owned pipe during the and following July 13 storms, which led to flooding across the entire island, it took actions to mitigate the damage.
Masella details the impacts of the flooding that occurred in the city.
The result was many basements flooded all around town. Other problems other than sewer related also occurred. “For instance, the staircase from Courtney Drive up to Ronald Drive was virtually destroyed.”
Masella told reporters that “the next day (July 14), there was a significant flood along Brock South, between Broughton Avon.
It was evident that after the SPVM, fire department and Public Works department evaluated and assessed the level of flooding it wasn’t our 4″ water main, but instead a City of Montreal’s 14″ main, which runs along Broughton. Calling our number, we asked for a Montreal plumbing company to come and close the valves. When the plumber was dispatched, he would not touch the valve as he had only been authorized to handle pipes smaller than 10″.
Montreal’s mayor said the city has delegated that work to an outside firm specialized in pipe of this size.
Public Works then broke protocol, shutting off valves of Montreal’s water pipe, and water began to subside. Public Works staff from the Town of Toronto were present on-site Friday morning. They worked to remove as much damage as possible.
Masella says that Montreal West responded to a collective letter written by Brock South residents.
Montreal’s responsibility to fix the pipe was stated in this first communication. Their contractor arrived on the scene Tuesday. They also confirmed that they would keep garbage and recyclables flowing as normal, even if our own crews were to perform the collection. It was confirmed that the Town would conduct special collection efforts to clear large amounts of debris. Once the street-sweeping machine had been repaired and was ready to go, Brock received several trips to reduce the amount of silt.
Masella said residents were upset “because we didn’t close our pipes, they felt we took too long, and it was preventable.”
“The truth is, we had not been authorized to intervene in Montreal’s grid. It has far-reaching consequences to shut off a large pipe. The water pressure fluctuations could have been the cause of multiple breakages in Montreal West as well as Montreal. It could even have affected water quality. This is why there is a procedure before a pipe of that size is shut down. Montreal sent the correct people on-site to shut the pipes after waiting a couple of hour. So we closed it. The risk was huge.
He said that residents of the surrounding area were angry at him personally for not having rushed to the scene.
The time I spent on my own flood-damaged basement would have been better used helping coordinate our response and communications. To avoid the simple political choice, I ensured that teams would have all the resources they need to provide the best possible support to our affected residents. On Tuesday, 18 July 2018, Councillors Small-Pennefather and Feeney travelled to Brock South to help me and my team at Montreal West better address the needs and concerns of residents.
We have kept in close contact with City of Montreal officials and politicians to coordinate the necessary actions and responses to the flooding. This will help minimize future problems. As for responsibility, residents of our city were given 15 days following the date of damage to lodge their claims. Montreal also received our message.
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