The Citizen, 2019-08-01, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2019.
Pollard drain gets people talking in Londesborough
Bringing ’em home
The Brussels Tigers put together an excellent campaign
over the weekend in their own annual fastball tournament,
winning the A Championship, scoring over 40 runs and only
allowing 10 against them along the way. Here, the Tigers
took on the Appin A’s in the final game of the tournament.
Though the A’s swept through the A Division without a loss,
they were no match for Brussels, who beat them by a score
of 12-0. (Denny Scott photo)
For all the years I have lived in
Londesborough that little waterway
which skirts the north and east edges
of the village has just been referred
to as “the creek”. And after a heavy
rainfall, we would comment on how
much water had pooled down in our
field when that waterway
overflowed its banks for a stretch in
the low area where our farm abuts
the school property, but the flooding
was of no consequence to us.
Because of rain events in the last
couple of years I have learned that
“the creek” is actually the Pollard
municipal drain and when it
overflows its banks in other areas
along the waterway there are
consequences of a serious nature.
Let’s have a history lesson which
will also perhaps serve as a fact-
finding exercise. Back in 1945,
farmers along the 13th Concession
of Hullett Township recognized that
if their farms had better drainage
they would have better crop yields.
So they appealed to their local
government, which then was Hullett
Township Council, for help. It
stands to reason that some small
natural waterway was legalized by
the council, dredged, cleaned up
and named the Pollard municipal
drain.
Twenty-five years later, in 1970,
some of us will remember, the
waterway/drain was dredged again.
Over those 25 years, the narrow
stream had become clogged and the
flow was being restricted in areas
resulting in some flooding. As I
understand it, the drain, in its present
condition, was engineered to handle
the worst rain event to be expected in
a two-year period in the last decades
of the 1990s.
Some work was done in 2011 to
improve water flow in the area of the
bridge along Londesborough Road
just east of the village. In the
ensuing years, nearly 50, the world
has been affected by climate change.
We have been told to expect more
frequent and heavier rain events as
normal. Two very nasty rainfalls,
one in 2017 and another in 2018
caused extensive flooding and
damage to property.
Once again, the municipal
government, by now the
Municipality of Central Huron, was
petitioned by property owners to
deal with this drain. They hired the
engineering firm of Burnside and
Associates of Stratford to handle the
project.
There are 189 properties, both
agricultural and residential, in the
catchment area of this drain. The
catchment area means properties
which the engineers feel drain into
this municipal drain and are affected
by its flow. The area extends from
almost Blyth Road in the north, the
Caldwell farms to the east and Bob
Trick’s property to the west. Our
farm lies at the southern edge of this
catchment area where the drain
flows into the Maitland River. These
properties are felt to benefit from
having this drain in good condition.
Affected property owners were
invited to hear the proposal for work
on the drain prepared by Burnside
and Associates at the
Londesborough Community Hall on
Wednesday, July 17. A goodly
number of persons were on hand that
evening and there were many
questions and much discussion
handled by Paul MacIntyre and his
assistant, Michael.
In today’s climate, the work on the
drain is proposed to handle the worst
rain event one might expect in a five-
year period. The project will not
start until at least next summer. The
drain will be excavated wider in
what is termed a two-stage design to
keep rainfall runoff in the waterway
and avoid flooding. The drain can
not be dredged deeper. The bottom
two feet of the drain is considered a
fish habitat and must not be
disturbed.
During the dredging, those
property drains which outlet into the
municipal drain will be assessed
based on water rate and flow and
acreage and outlets improved. A
stilling basin, which will be six
metres wide, will be excavated
slightly upstream from where the
drain empties into the river and to
the side of the drain itself. This
transition point is designed to handle
overflow in an area where flooding
is not a concern. This area is also
expected to catch any large items
that flow down the drain before they
end up in the river. I assume some
type of municipal oversight will be
put in place for that cleanup.
That evening, property owners
were given their preliminary cost
assessments of the work. Those who
benefit most will be assessed the
most. The municipality as a whole
would not benefit by the work so are
not liable for payment. I understand,
however, that they will be dealing
with any grants that might be
available to offset our costs. Paul
noted that assessments are based on
the benefits of the improvements to
the system to the individual
properties. Final assessments for
the project are still subject to
finalizing details with the Maitland
Valley Conservation Area, the
Ministry of Natural Resources and
the Department of Fisheries.
The proposal has been the topic of
many conversations in recent days.
There have been many opinions
offered, alternate remedies for the
situation suggested and anger over
the assessments voiced. Stay tuned.
I’m sure this project will be fodder
for future columns!
Summer Sports Pages
Brussels
P
r
e
M
i
t
e
:
Back row,
f
r
o
m
l
e
f
t
:
Coaches:
Brookelyn John
s
t
o
n
,
M
a
t
t
S
h
o
r
treed, Patricia Be
u
e
r
mann. Middle
row: Aiden
A
l
b
e
r
s
, Connor K
ellington,
C
o
r
nelius Versteeg,
Ty Somers
, Bridget
M
c
C
a
l
l
u
m
,
R
y
k
er
DeWit. Front ro
w
:
H
a
y
d
e
n
B
e
n
e
d
i
c
t
,
A
d
e
l
F
i
s
c
h
e
r
, Brook B
e
u
e
r
mann, Je
s
a
F
i
s
c
h
e
r
, Connor
Shortreed.
Coaches and parents
We need
your team's picture
and players' names
1. Please submit team
photo A.S.A.P.
2. Please include players'
and coaches' names
for under photo.
Please help us get ALL
the summer sports teams published.
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