Purbrook Drain (RE), Township of Severn, 2016 ONAFRAAT 18

Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal

1Stone 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

Courriel: AFRAAT@ontario.ca

AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS APPEAL TRIBUNAL

APPEAL:

Purbrook Drain (RE)

Township of Severn

Purbrook Drain (RE)

Township of Severn

2016ONAFRAAT18

STATUTE:

Drainage Act

HEARING:

By way of written submissions

DATE OF DECISION:

July 26, 2016

010Purbrook16

NEUTRAL CITATION:

2016ONAFRAAT18

PURBROOK DRAIN

TOWNSHIP OF SEVERN

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 Township of Severn under Section 76 of the Drainage Act requesting permission to procure the report of an engineer for the purpose of varying the original assessments on the Purbrook Drain.

Before:

Harold McNeely, Vice-Chair; Edward Dries, Member

DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL

The Township of Severn 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.

This application was considered by way of written submissions.

Statutory Context

The purpose of an application to the Tribunal under Section 76 of the Drainage Act is to deal with an existing drainage project involving more than one municipality, where conditions have changed and the existing Schedule of Assessments in the drainage by-law are now unworkable for the purpose of levying assessments for maintenance work required on the drain.

Approval of an application by the Tribunal provides a municipality with the authority to procure an Engineer’s Report to provide a new Schedule of Assessments for the maintenance and repair of a drainage works.

Background

The Purbrook Drain was constructed under an engineer’s report by J.K. Young, P. Eng. of Noront Engineering Ltd. dated January 14, 1981. The Report was appealed to the Ontario Drainage Tribunal and a decision on the appeals raised against that Report was published on September 18, 1981. As a result of numerous severances and land divisions that have occurred in the Townships of Severn and Oro-Medonte since the preparation of the 1981 Report, and changes in how assessments are determined for a drainage works, the Schedule of Assessments forming part of that Report and by-law is no longer fair and equitable.

The Issue

Should the application for permission to procure the report of an engineer be granted?

The Evidence

By way of email dated June 22, 2016, the Township of Severn gave notice to the Township of Oro-Medonte of their intent to make an application to the Tribunal for permission to engage an engineer to prepare a report for the purpose of varying the assessments on the Purbrook Drain. The Township of Oro-Medonte advised of its support to proceed with the preparation of a report for the purposes of varying assessments in the Engineer’s Report for the Purbrook Drain, in a letter dated July 20, 2016.

By way of correspondence dated June 6, 2016 and June 17, 2016 addressed to Henry Sander, CAO of the Township of Severn, Gary MacKay, P. Eng. for Tulloch Engineering advised of the following with respect to the Purbrook Drain.

• There has been in the order of 200 changes involving severance and land divisions in Townships of Severn and Oro-Medonte within the watershed of the Purbrook Drain since the original Report.
• The assessment schedules in the Report are outdated and need to be reapportioned to reflect a fair and reasonable sharing of costs when maintenance of the drain occurs and lands are required to be assessed under Section 74 of the Drainage Act.

The Findings

The Tribunal finds that the request by the Township of Severn meets the requirements of Section 76 of the Drainage Act.

ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

The Tribunal grants permission to the Township of Severn to appoint an engineer pursuant to Section 76 of the Drainage Act, to procure an engineer’s report to vary the assessments in the current by-law for the Purbrook Drain.