By Teena Monteleone

City floodplain debate continues

May 27, 2017 | 10:00 AM

The floodplain debate between Prince Albert city council and administration continues in a stalemate, further delaying a deadline issued by the province last December.

The government requires municipalities to adhere to a one-in-500 year floodplain standard as part of official community plans. The provincially mandated policy bars future development in the floodway – the area at greatest risk for flooding beside a waterway – and it puts a number of building requirements on new developments in the flood fringe. The fringe is the area outside of the floodway.

For Prince Albert, there are roughly 2,000 properties within the floodplain. Since the provincial standard was issued, the debate has pitted opinions on flood preparation against property values in city hall.

Planning Director John Guenther said most members of council view the flood risk as being low.

“They have an opinion that the floodplain will have an impact on real estate, cost and on the long term,” Guenther said.

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Councillor Don Cody, who lives by the river, has been an outspoken opponent of the provincial policy. He said he wants Prince Albert to adopt a one-in-100 year floodplain which would put fewer properties and buildings within the flood zone.

“We’ve never had a flood here so it doesn’t make sense to have 2,000 people potentially affected by this,” Cody said.

Council was presented with a number of mitigation options including a multi-million dollar dyke or purchasing flood prevention equipment like sandbags and a bladder system but Cody argued those measures could lower property values and affect all taxpayers.

“You wouldn’t be able to view the river over a dyke and that devalues the property tremendously. Who is going to pay for that?” he said. “There are far better options like using sandbags and getting equipment like ladders to prove that we have what we need in the event of a flood.

“We need more information on what mitigation we would provide so the government would give us the go-ahead on the community plan.”

When asked whether the city is taking a gamble by delaying the floodplain policy again, Cody said he “wasn’t too worried about that.”

“I know the province is getting antsy. They could take over the department and tell us we aren’t allowed to do anything unless they give us permission but I’m not worried about that because there isn’t a lot of building or activity being done in the area anyway.”

Guenther, on the other hand, argues it’s time to move forward. He said council can delay the floodplain policy, but eventually a decision will have to be made. By not signing on to create a plan, the city could be missing out on potential funding opportunities, he said.

“The Flood Damage Reduction program by the federal government assigns money to the province every year. Our argument is that if we recognize the floodplain and move forward there is a chance of more funding to come in to help pay for flood mitigation,” Guenther said. “From a legal aspect, it is the law and administration has to follow it.”

teena.monteleone@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow