Chatham-Kent councillors will have a very difficult decision to make during Monday night's council meeting as they vote on a proposed bylaw that seeks to permanently close part of Erie Shore Drive, effective March 9.
A report will go to council on Monday with regard to the state of emergency issued on Friday. Residents were asked to leave their homes due to the potential risk of the Erie Shore Drive dike being rendered unstable between 18416 Erie Shore Dr. and the intersection of Erie Shore Drive and Erieau Road.
"Closure of the proposed part of Erie Shore Drive is strongly supported by engineering information received by the municipality to date and is necessary to mitigate the risk of harm to people and property and to allow work to be undertaken to prevent a breach of the dike," read the municipal report going to council.
South Kent Councillor Trevor Thompson said it's unfortunate that this is what it has come to.
"It's heartbreaking," he said in an interview with Blackburn News. "Seeing those people and knowing that you're severely limiting their lives. If people can't live in their home and can't access their homes, that's not only stressful emotionally but financially. There aren't a lot of people that can afford to just pick up and walk away from what could be their life savings."
Thompson suggested during Friday's meeting that the municipality could look at buying out the homeowners in the affected area; a suggestion met with applause from residents.
"People have come to the conclusion that they can't afford to stay and they can't afford to leave. So if we can figure out some sort of way that they can afford to leave, we need to go ahead and do that," he said.
However, Thompson admitted that kind of solution would require a strategic approach and the municipality would likely need financial assistance from upper levels of government. Nevertheless, he doesn't want the option of expropriating at least some properties taken off of the table altogether, stating "it's something that needs to be considered."
"Make no mistake, this is a man-made engineered drainage issue we're dealing with," he said. "It's slightly different than a natural bluff eroding. This was something that was placed there and it protects the town of Erieau and it protects the 1,600 acres of farmland."
Thompson said following Friday's meeting, municipal staff were set to meet with the homeowners association over the weekend to look over possibilities.
"I want council to see the gravity of the situation when they come to make their decision," said Thompson. "This is a decision that requires an extraordinary level of care and commitment to whatever we decide to do."
Administrative staff are also recommending that council allow the General Manager of Infrastructure and Engineering Services to move forward in making all the purchases necessary in addressing the current condition of the Erie Shore road and dike
"While spending of public monies is normally done through a competitive process, the urgency of this situation justifies delegating the authority to make purchasing decisions outside of a competitive process to the General Manager," read the report.
The full report going to council on Monday can be found by clicking, here.
-With files from Kirk Dickinson
Proposed road closure along Erie Shore Drive. (Photo courtesy of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent)
