Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal 1 Stone Road West
Tribunal d’appel de l’agriculture, de l’alimentation et des affaires rurales 1 Stone Road West
Guelph, (Ontario) N1G 4Y2 Tel: (519) 826-3433, Fax: (519) 826-4232 Email: AFRAAT@ontario.ca
Guelph (Ontario) N1G 4Y2 Tél.: (519) 826-3433, Téléc.: (519) 826-4232 Email: AFRAAT@ontario.ca
AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS APPEAL TRIBUNAL
APPEAL:
Whitfield Municipal Drain Township of North Huron
Whitfield Municipal Drain (RE) 2002 ONAFRAAT 5
STATUTE:
Drainage Act
HEARING:
February 5, 2002
February 6, 2002
2002-05
NEUTRAL CITATION:
2002 ONAFRAAT 5
Whitfield Municipal Drain Township of North Huron
IN THE MATTER OF THE DRAINAGE ACT R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER D.17, AS AMENDED.
AND IN THE MATTER OF: An application to the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal by the Corporation of the Township of North Huron under Section 76 of the Drainage Act requesting permission to procure an engineer’s report on the Whitfield Municipal Drain. .
Before: Jack Young, Vice Chair; Andrew Wright, Vice Chair
DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL
This application was considered by way of a written hearing on Tuesday, February 5, 2002. The Council of the Corporation of the Township of North Huron applied to the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal (the Tribunal) for permission to procure a report by an engineer pursuant to Section 76 of the Drainage Act.
Section 76 of the Drainage Act states:
Varying original assessments for maintenance
76 (1) The council of any local municipality liable for contribution to a drainage works in connection with which conditions have changed or circumstances have arisen such as to justify a variation of the assessment for maintenance and repair of the drainage works may make an application to the Tribunal, of which notice has been given to the head of every other municipality affected by the drainage works, for permission to procure a report of an engineer to vary the assessment, and, in the event of such permission being given, such council may appoint an engineer for such purpose and may adopt the report but, if all the lands and roads assessed or intended to be assessed lie within the limits of one local municipality, the council of that municipality may procure and adopt such report without such permission. R.S.O. 1990, c. D.17, s. 76 (1).
Proceedings on report of engineer
(2)The proceedings upon such report, excepting appeals, shall be the same, as nearly as may be, as upon the report for the construction of the drainage works. R.S.O. 1990, c. D.17, s. 76 (2).
Appeal from report of engineer
(3) Any council served with a copy of such report may, within forty days of such service, appeal to the Tribunal from the finding of the engineer as to the portion of the cost of the drainage works for which the municipality is liable. R.S.O. 1990, c. D.17, s. 76 (3).
Appeal from assessment
(4) Any owner of land assessed for maintenance or repair may appeal from the assessment in the report on the grounds and in the manner provided by section 52 in the case of the construction of the drainage works. R.S.O. 1990, c. D.17, s. 76 (4).
Basis of future assessments
(5) An assessment determined under this section shall thereafter, until it is further varied, form the basis of any assessment for maintenance or repair of the drainage works affected thereby. R.S.O. 1990, c. D.17, s. 76 (5).
The Background
The Whitfield Municipal Drain was constructed pursuant to a by-law passed in 1953 by the former Township of East Wawanosh in Huron County. The drain is situated in the former Village of Blyth, the former Township of Morris and the former Township of East Wawanosh. It is primarily a tile drain comprised of 6” tile (1,000 ft), 8” tile (500 ft), 10” tile (479 ft), 12” tile (3,269 ft), 12” pipe (87 ft) and 15” pipe (20 ft). There are five catch basins in the drain.
The former Village of Blyth and the former Township of East Wawanosh are now part of the Corporation of the Township of North Huron. The former Township of Morris is now part of the Municipality of Morris-Turnberry.
The Issue
The issue before the Tribunal was:
- Should the application by the Township of North Huron for permission to procure an engineer’s report be granted?
The Evidence
In a letter dated November 9, 2001, Mr. John Stewart, Clerk-Administer, Corporation of the Township of North Huron indicated:
The Council of the Township of North Huron appointed Mr. Tom Pridham, P. Eng. to prepare a report pursuant to Section 78 of the Drainage Act in order to alleviate problems with the drainage works in the former Village of Blyth, update the assessment schedule and potentially service additional lands.
A site meeting was held May 11, 2001.
An information meeting was held on October 16, 2001.
Mr. Pridham recommended that a report be prepared under Section 76 of the Drainage Act, as he believed the work required did not warrant the cost of a report commissioned pursuant to Section 78 of the Drainage Act.
Owners in attendance at the meeting held on October 16, 2001 supported Mr. Pridham’s recommendation.
The Council of the Township of North Huron endorsed the engineer’s recommendation on November 5, 2001.
In a letter dated December 28, 2001, Ms. Nancy Michie, Clerk-Treasurer, Municipality of Morris-Turnberry, indicated that the Municipality of Morris-Turnberry did not object to the application by the Township of North Huron.
The Findings
After consideration of the submissions made, the Tribunal decided to grant the Corporation of the Township of North Huron permission of the Tribunal to appoint an engineer under Section 76 of the Drainage Act to procure a report to vary the assessment on the Whitfield Municipal Drain.
ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
After careful consideration of the evidence filed and the submissions made the Tribunal orders:
The Corporation of the Township of North Huron is granted permission to appoint an engineer pursuant to Section 76 of the Drainage Act to procure a report to vary the assessment on the Whitfield Municipal Drain.
The non-administrative costs of the Township in respect to this appeal shall form part of the cost of the drainage works and it is ordered that there be no other order as to costs and all parties are responsible for their own costs. Attention is drawn to Section 73 of the Act.
Dated at Gravenhurst, Ontario this 6th day of February▬ ⌙↨↨⌙‼