Rene Montpellier

The appellant appealed the quality of construction of the Branconnier Drain, alleging defects including bank slumping, an obstructed culvert, lack of seeding, and unremoved sediment traps.

The Ontario Drainage Tribunal found that the bank slippage, culvert placement, and lack of seeding did not constitute construction defects, as they either complied with the engineer's report or were maintenance issues.

However, the Tribunal found a deficiency regarding the temporary sediment traps, which had not been removed as required by the specifications.

The Tribunal ordered the respondent municipality to complete the removal of the accumulated sediments and temporary sediment traps within six weeks.

Several landowners and the Township of Kenyon appealed the engineer's report and the Court of Revision's decision regarding the MacCrimmon Municipal Drain improvement.

The proposed work involved replacing two culverts.

Upstream owners argued they received no benefit and should not be assessed costs, while the engineer assessed 50% of costs to abutting owners and 50% to the watershed.

The Tribunal found the work necessary as the existing culverts were unsafe and undersized.

The Tribunal ordered the engineer's report amended to divide overhead costs equally between the two culverts, assess the total cost of each culvert 50% to the abutting landowner and 50% to the contributing watershed, and clarify that maintenance of the culverts is part of the drain with costs shared similarly.

The Tribunal also ordered the removal of references specifying culvert sizes in the upstream Township of Kenyon.

Several landowners appealed the Court of Revision's decision confirming the assessments for the Mill Creek Municipal Drain Improvement.

The engineer who prepared the report, Philip McNeely, stated at the hearing that he no longer felt the proposed project was viable and that it should not proceed.

Based on this statement, the Tribunal ordered that the engineer's report be abandoned and provided the affected municipalities and landowners an opportunity to develop an alternative proposal to address the flooding problem.

The appellant appealed the quality of construction of a municipal drain under s. 64 of the Drainage Act.

The engineer's firm moved to strike the appeal as out of time, but the Tribunal found the limitation period did not begin until the latent defect was discovered.

On the merits, the Tribunal found the covered drain was not installed on grade due to the contractor's failure to follow specifications and the engineer's failure to properly supervise the construction.

The Tribunal ordered the drain reconstructed, with the contractor and the engineering firm each bearing 50% of the costs.