After nearly four months of inaction, it appears that the District of Sechelt is responding to flooding complaints near the pioneer cemetery at St. Hilda’s By the Sea Anglican Church.
The church, located at 5838 Barnacle St., cleared a section beside the cemetery late last year in preparation for a new memorial garden where ashes can be spread, but once the trees and shrubs were cleared, flooding became a problem.
St. Hilda’s groundskeeper Eric Paetkau said that several years ago, when a walkway was put in between the church and the Rockwood, runoff was diverted from the Rockwood side, under the walkway and onto St. Hilda’s property.
He said no one really noticed or complained about it until the area was cleared and water started pouring onto the site beside the pioneer graveyard in November of last year.
Right away, Paetkau said, he went to the District of Sechelt to request a fix, but no one was able to meet with him so he left his name and number.
“A week later I came back and the secretary said the guy I needed to talk to was out on a project,” Paetkau said, noting he left his name and number again.
The third week that Paetkau returned to the district he embellished his story and said that “ashes of the dead people are floating up and some of the bones are sticking out of the mud,” which wasn’t true.
“But [the secretary] went and got the guy right away,” Paetkau said.
“We went into his office and I told him the thing in detail and he said he’d go and have a look at it and get back to me. Guess what? He never got back to me.”
The fourth time Paetkau went to the district, he said the person he was speaking to had gone on Christmas vacation, so Paetkau asked to speak to his boss instead.
“So he came out and I told him the situation and he said he’d come right now and look at it,” Paetkau said, noting the district at that time promised a fix, but stipulated it couldn’t be done until after Christmas.
Christmas came and went and no fix was attempted.
“The last time I went to the district was three weeks ago and the guy said we were on the list for a fix within two weeks, but here we are, still no fix,” Paetkau said.
The frustration fuelled an online video produced by friends of Paetkau’s that pointed the finger at the district and suggested damage to the pioneer cemetery was possible due to the flooding.
The video caused some people in the community to get angry and Sechelt council was asked if anything was going to be done to fix the problem during a Feb. 17 council meeting.
Mayor Bruce Milne responded by saying, “Yes, and things were underway before the video. I understand it’s sensitive, and like many things it takes time for it to work through the process. It’s unfortunate that it was that particular way of bringing the public the issue because it looks like the wrong response, but things are underway,” Milne said.
When contacted for comment this week, arts, culture and communications coordinator Siobhan Smith said the district was in the midst of planning a fix.
“It is best to look at long-term solutions. The municipality will work with the property owners in the coming months to find the best mutually acceptable methods to address the concerns,” Smith said.
“This is one of many drainage issues throughout the municipality. The District of Sechelt is currently short-staffed in the engineering department. Once we retain our new director of engineering and operations services, she/he will be tasked to find long-term solutions for these challenges.”
