Long-standing groundwater issues in Selma Park aren’t the District of Sechelt’s problem, but councillors directed staff to urge action from those responsible during a March 30 public works, parks and environment committee meeting.
A staff report from manager of engineering Sanath Bandara suggested no further action on the file that’s seen residents complaining about groundwater issues since 2014 to the District of Sechelt.
His report stated that significant groundwater seepage has been evident in the area since the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) completed highway improvements nearby in 2011.
Residents at properties numbered between 5401 and 5419 on Selma Park Road and along the south side of the highway between 5235 and 5283 started reporting elevated groundwater, seepage and ground movement to the district in 2014, Bandara said in his report.
While no exact cause of the groundwater has been found to date, it’s expected the problems stem either from Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) water lines, private water lines, or naturally occurring groundwater, none of which are the responsibility of the District of Sechelt.
In the past, the district retained Thurber Engineering Ltd. to assess the residents’ concerns and a study done by the engineering firm “did not reveal a conclusive cause for the elevated groundwater levels observed,” Bandara’s report stated.
The district has also facilitated stakeholder meetings with affected property owners, SCRD representatives and MOTI, but no fixes have been found.
Bandara suggested on March 30 that the district had done all it could to help the affected residents and recommended no further action by the district.
CAO Tim Palmer agreed, saying it wasn’t the district’s place to “become a middle person” as the water issues aren’t within the district’s jurisdiction.
However, Coun. Darnelda Siegers didn’t feel comfortable leaving the residents to lobby the SCRD and MOTI for more investigation and a fix on their own.
“I understand what our CAO is saying about jurisdiction, but this is a group of residents in our area, in our municipality, who are having issues on their property,” Siegers said.
“I don’t say we would take the lead on this, but I would like to have the CAO write a letter to the SCRD’s CAO and to the Ministry of Transportation indicating that we have concerns with these issues that have been raised and don’t seem to be being addressed by the various bodies, and we’d like them to take the lead on it and keep us in the loop going forward.”
She made her statement as a motion and all were in favour of supporting it. The motion will now go to a regular council meeting for formal adoption.
