West Nipissing council has directed staff to fix a drainage issue on Betty Road in Verner affecting the Bazinet family.
Who pays is another matter.
But Mayor Joanne Savage says that’s something that can be decided in the future.
Council is divided on the issue of what caused increased water in the area which has resulted in erosion to the Bazinet’s land.
Everyone agrees the water is coming from the roadway but there’s a debate on where the road water is coming from.
As CAO Jay Barbeau told council that’s a key point and getting an engineer’s report can help answer this.
Councillor Roly Larabie does not believe the municipality is responsible for the increased flow because it did not re-direct the water when ditches in the area were cleared out.
Larabie says it was an act of God.
However, councillor Denis Senecal disagrees and so does Savage.
The Mayor says the landowners have lived at the affected site for more than 20 years and the water drainage issue has only surfaced in the last couple of years.
Savage says there’s been a lot of development in that area and something has happened to escalate the water flow.
Barbeau says the drainage issue raises many legal questions.
Barbeau told council that although the Bazinets contend negligence on the municipality’s part and it should be responsible for the costs, he says that point is unproven and would be a civil matter.
Councillor Lise Senecal wants to avoid going to court and is siding with the Bazinets.
She agrees the property owners shouldn’t have to pay because they are not the cause of the problem and Senecal adds there’s a paper trail indicating the drainage work at the site years ago was not done properly.
What may have to be decided next is when the drainage repair work can begin.