Petition for abandonment of drainage works during ongoing appeal of engineer's report is an abuse of process.
The City of Kawartha Lakes brought a motion for directions regarding petitions for the abandonment of the Short and 2A Drains, which were received while an appeal of an engineer's report under the Drainage Act was ongoing.
The Drainage Referee held that bringing a petition for abandonment during the fulfillment of a previous Referee's order is an abuse of process and must await the completion of the ongoing Drainage Act process.
The Referee also reviewed the municipality's methodology for assessing the validity of the abandonment petitions, finding that the petitions did not meet the statutory threshold and clarifying issues related to overlapping assessments, joint ownership, and municipal road ownership.
Kawartha Lakes (City) v. Owners of R.J Burnside, 2011 ONDR 2
