Developers have agreed to fix the sinkhole found at the Seawatch development and alert future homebuyers to geotechnical hazards in the area, according to documents released at the May 1 Sechelt council meeting.
Nearly 200 pages of reports, studies and findings related to the Seawatch sinkhole were released from in-camera, as well as legal documents showing Concordia Seawatch Ltd. will pay the District $75,000 to help alleviate some of the costs incurred to date.
Sechelt has been paying for geotechnical studies, short-term fixes and legal bills regarding the sinkhole and who should fix it since it was first discovered in June of 2012.
Mayor John Henderson said he doesn't know how much Sechelt has spent on the issue but noted $75,000 isn't "even 50 per cent" of what has been paid out.
"But this is the kind of thing, when you get a natural disaster like this and you have to react to it, there's not much choice but to go out and do both whatever we can to help the residents and take care of the District," Henderson said. "So it's a cost of, I don't know if it's right to say a cost of doing business, but it's certainly a cost we are obliged to pay, just like the foreshore on Trail Bay. When something like that happens you get on and fix it, and you have to figure out where you're going to pay for it. Fortunately we've got the resources to have done that."
Concordia's remediation of the sinkhole will take place in the summer during the "dry season," documents state.
While Henderson said there is no reason for people living in the area to be concerned, he couldn't guarantee the safety of the site.
"A guarantee isn't a word that I think anybody can provide. What we know is that of course there's been an extraordinary amount of technical work done, there will be more done by professionals and that hopefully will both identify and solve the current problem and make sure that it doesn't happen again," Henderson said.
Documents show that both the District and Concordia "acknowledge that additional geotechnical events may occur at the subdivision."
To view the entire report released May 1, including detailed geotechnical testing of the site, download the 2013-05-01 RC Amended Agenda.pdf from www.sechelt.ca/CityHall/AgendasMinutes.aspx.
