Rocky View County (RVC) council and administration are still looking for ways to provide financial assistance to residents of Cochrane Lake who sustained damage to their home and property during the lake’s persistent flooding issues.
A Notice of Motion from Councillor Jerry Arshinoff at the Jan. 27 meeting prompted RVC administration to compile a report detailing why an application to the Disaster Relief Program (DRP) would not be suitable for the situation, however, council voted 7-2 in favour of going forward with a basic application with no budget adjustment. Boehlke and Breakey voted against the motion.
Flooding issues have been an issue for the hamlet of Cochrane Lake, and the surrounding area, for the past four years.
The issue was further complicated by the bankruptcy of the developer and the water utility that held licenses for the lake, resulting in many property owners unable to receive insurance compensation for the damages sustained during the event.
The DRP funding, if received, would go directly to the residents to repair damages caused by the flooding. According to Arshinoff, at least two homes within the hamlet have sustained mold damage, at least two homes have sustained structural damage and at least eight homes have been left with unsafe septic systems.
However, a report presented to council stated that the DRP program is unavailable to residents who have already received DRP funding, or if other government departments are addressing the matter through independent strategies. According to Infrastructure and Operations Manager Byron Riemann, the County received a grant from Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development in December 2014 in the amount of $2,352,137 for Water Level Management of Cochrane Lake.
Arshinoff admitted there was a Cochrane Lake resident who received money through the program, but said it would have been impossible for that one resident, or anyone else, to do anything themselves to correct the situation.
“They certainly tried, they worked like slaves day and night,” he said.
“They did the best they could – 80-year-old people piled sandbags all over the place.”
He added, since the government has already provided financial assistance, they are obviously well aware of the situation, and they consider it to be deserving of help.
“There’s nothing to lose for the people involved, there’s nothing to lose for (RVC), and I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t do it,” Arshinoff said.
“I realize there would be some work involved and some cost, but I think this would be a miniscule cost for the potential of a very significant gain to people who have been putting up with this situation for quite a few years. Really, I think it is the least we could do.”
According to administration, the DRP application would require resource assignment of both staff time and funding to complete to an “acceptable standard” for submission. Riemann estimated the cost to be approximately $15,000, mainly generated from paying engineers to validate the amount requested in DRP funding.
“Was there structural damage? Do we have to correct that? Is there landscaping to protect the next event, if there is such a thing?” Riemann said.
“These are all the pieces of information that support a strong application.”
RVC council voted to proceed with the application without the engineering report to see if they can generate interest from the Province, and may look at investing in a more detailed report in the future.
