Editor:
In April of last year my partner, Connie, who owns a well established B&B on Banff Avenue experienced the second of two sewage backups in a 15-month period. Camera work revealed that much of the problem was roots that had gotten into the pipe on town property.
“No problem,” I said, “we’ll just have the plumbing company call the Town’s operations department and fix it.” And from that moment on any illusion of a Norman Rockwellian town of officials ready and willing to help soon disappeared.
The plumbing company informed us that we might have a problem. They’d heard that the bylaw had been changed, and now the homeowner was responsible all the way to the main line. We were alarmed. Homeowners would have to tear up the streets at a cost of thousands. When was the bylaw changed? And how many homeowners were present?
We researched further. Someone(s) had proffered the rumour, but it wasn’t true. Unless the homeowner was negligent, the Town was responsible for repairs on Town property. So we asked the plumbing company to contact the Town.
The operations department met with the plumbing company at the site of the damaged pipe. They agreed. Roots had gotten into the pipe, some on Connie’s side and a damaging amount on the Town side. But operations refused to fix their side. The reason: the roots originated from trees on Connie’s property. Connie had failed to keep her roots out of the sewage system.
So now homeowners were negligent simply for having trees on their property. A plumbing executive settled the issue, “This is a problem all over town. It has nothing to do with tree roots. The pipes are old, probably made of clay, and cracked. Roots go where the moisture is.”
We informed the operations department of this. Still, they did nothing. Our worries mounted. It was now the busy summer B&B season, and we couldn’t afford another backup. Frustrated, we called the media.
In September a reporter from the Outlook contacted the operations department. Suddenly, we got a call from Paul Godfrey, the Director of Operations. He wanted to review the camera work. He concurred that there were sizeable roots on Town property. The Town would finally take accountability. He assigned the repair work to a utilities supervisor.
And they did replace their end of the pipe. But not for three more months. Not before the pipe actually broke, causing the work to be done in a state of emergency, not before offering to split the cost of an $11,200 liner, but then not giving us a copy of the estimate, or any other bids, when asked. And in the end demanding a “release” absolving the department of all accountability before reimbursing half of Connie’s auguring costs resulting from the two sewage back-ups. Connie refused. They retracted the release and Connie was issued a check.
Sometimes it is worth taking a stand.
A town’s highest priority is to provide safe and reliable infrastructure. That is why citizens pay property taxes. In other jurisdictions that I have experienced, compromised pipes causing sewage back-ups are repaired the next day. They do this for health reasons.
It did not happen here, not for eight months, despite repeated requests. We have prepared a detailed timeline and accounting of events, and have submitted it to the Town manager, the Town council, and the mayor, asking:
that any deceptive communications regarding the bylaw be stopped immediately;
that the bylaw as it now exists be spelled out clearly in print to all homeowners;
that any attempt to deceptively shift undue costs onto the homeowners be treated as an act of fraud;
that where the town is responsible it act courteously, professionally, and expediently;
that an investigation of the operations department be held to determine if its conduct meets the standards Banff’s citizens should expect, and what administrative actions, as a consequence, are warranted.
But prior to submitting our report we gave Mr. Godfrey and the supervisor the opportunity to review the critique and dispute any of the details. They replied back that they did nothing wrong.
The Town will decide when to do repairs. There was no apology, nor any indication they planned to change their conduct in the future. They also stated, “Updating the bylaw is one of council’s 2013 priorities,” which from what we experienced has a worrisome sound.
Other property owners have described the Town management as “arrogant” and “adversarial.” Perhaps others will voice their concerns. How this “us versus them” attitude evolved I don’t know. But perhaps it’s time the council swept the slate clean, and brought in new managers, people with a fresh spirit, who believe the Town they are privileged to work for is “us.”
Jamie MacVicar,
Banff
