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If the Ottawa River floods Britannia Village next spring, residents will have no one to blame but themselves, says village association president Wendy Hough-Eyamie.
Residents voted 65-39 against a proposal to build flood protection. The rejection also means property owners will still be subject to strict rules on what they can do with their houses, precluding many home improvements.
Earlier this year, Ottawa City Councillor Alex Cullen brokered a deal that would have seen a $400,000 berm along the river, built high enough—about one metre—to protect the most flood-prone area of the community. The city would have paid half and about 100 residents would have paid the other half over 10 years, which worked out to about $170 per house annually.
Mr. Cullen was disappointed with the vote because for years the area has been plagued by floods. The protection would have been enough to guard against water levels estimated to occur once in 100 years.
He said some residents wanted the city to pay the full cost, others didn’t want a metre-high concrete wall blocking their view of the river, and some discounted the risk.
“Some people are in denial that flooding will come again,” Mr. Cullen said, adding it was the best flood-protection deal ever offered to the residents.
“What I can count on is that this issue will not go away, as the risks from flooding in this part of Britannia Village are quite real.”
The Britannia Village Association negotiated and supported the deal with the city, and Ms. Hough-Eyamie said she’s more than disappointed.
She said past attempts to get the city to pay for the project netted only a 15-per-cent commitment. She thought a 50-per-cent commitment would seal the deal. She said the risks of flooding are obvious, and property values were bound to rise if the berm were built.
She said she’s going to regroup and try to get another project together that will be acceptable to a majority, but she’s still having a hard time believing residents rejected the proposal. “Why people would say no to something that’s so obviously in their best interests is hard to understand,” she said. “It was a good deal, and it just made sense.
“This is a flood plain. Floods have affected this area before and will again. The berm would have protected against floods. I really don’t get it.”