By Pepper Parr
July 24th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
Why is it that the barn door gets closed when the horses are already out?
Message from city on social media:
City crews are continuing to clean out catch basin grates and culvert inlets as a result of last week’s storm. More rain is forecasted this week.
If you notice a blocked drain or inlet, call the City at 905-335-7777, and we will send out a crew to clear it.
City sends staff out to clear a catch basin.
Is there any reason why people can’t clean their own catch basins? You don’t have to be a rocket science to take a broom or a shovel and remove anything covering a catch basin.
Clearing the catch basin isn’t very hard; a little tougher in the winter; make it part of clearing the side walk.
People have to take some responsibility for their own welfare and safety.
We tell people to change the batteries in their smoke alarms. Send out instructions to every household showing people with good graphics how to clear the drains.
Vancouver took an interesting approach to the catch basin problem. That city has 45,000 catch basins. They came up with a neat idea – they asked people to adopt their catch basins.
Burlington spends a lot of time and money baby-sitting its citizens.
How is that working so far?
For those who might be interested, after being bounced from one staff contact to another I finally got my answer as to where is it stated in City Bylaws that it is the property owner’s responsibility to maintain the boulevard.
There is a bylaw that stipulates this. The bylaw is:-
City of Burlington By-law 49-2022
A by-law to Repeal and Replace Lot Maintenance By-law 59-2018, being a By-law
to Regulate Exterior Property Maintenance including Vegetation, Refuse and Graffiti
File:110-01-1 BB-07-2022
I particularly would refer you to sections 3.6 and 7.1 and 7.2.
Take note that the Boulevard does not just mean an area of grass in front of your property. The boulevard is that part of the road allowance that is not traveled on by traffic. I.e the sidewalk and anything within the road allowance up to the shoulder of the road. Maintenance required is not just cutting of the grass but it is also requires weeding of the sidewalk. In my walks with my dog I notice many areas of sidewalks now have large weeds growing in between the concrete slabs. Also, I take from this by-law that it is an infringement to leave grass cuttings on the sidewalk or in the road.
Anyone have any thoughts?
My neighbour and I do regularly clear the grate.
With two schools up the street there is some garbage, but I must say in recent years the amount has really gone down. No one seems to mention the responsibility of others in the neighbourhood not to blow THEIR yard waste into the street. The man across from me does this almost every day. Several of us have spoken to him, but it makes no difference. Three of the property management companies on the block also do it weekly and I’m sure do it across the city. There should be a bylaw with a fine attached, requiring homeowners/maintenance companies to bag their waste, take it away and hopefully compost it – not leave it for others to rake/shovel off the sewer grate and dispose of.
There’s a COB crew on New St clearing Shoreacres Creek, Hmmmmmmm.
A positive attitude and pride in one’s street and one’s city should be all that’s needed. A bylaw is only as good as its enforcement. To enforce it, additional costs would be incurred such as bylaw officers, administration. It would require one neighbour to tattle tale on another. Fines may have to be imposed, which would have huge blowback. That’s another burden on the property tax payer that could be done without.
‘McCoy Foundry 1990 or 6’, thats my adopted storm drain, I clean it and the curb gutter every time I cut the grass, I also maintain the grass on the Blvd, and kill the weeds on the sidewalks; most of the residents on our street have contractors maintaining their properties as did I when working.
Thanks David. That’s the example to all residents. I don’t know where this is written either in a bylaw or some other document at the city, but when speaking to City staff they confirm the maintenance of the boulevard (and if no boulevard, I believe, the first 6 ft off the sidewalk towards the adjacent property is the responsibility of the homeowner to maintain. When I asked the staff member whose responsibility is it to control weeds growing between the concrete slabs of the sidewalk the staff member confirms the City expects the owner of the adjacent property to take care of this.
If you’re communicating to home owners about their responsibility to clear the drains on the streets , please also remind them to clear the fire hydrants if they should have one, if/when they get berried in snow banks.
Here is the challenge Editor for this issue, municipality has an obligation to the citizens of the city to maintain it’s infrastructure. It sub-contracts the cleaning of this leaf collection, the street sweeping, and often the felling of trees in the boulavard areas. Often times these storm sewers are not inspected or camera inspected after the jobs are completed and residents are right to assume that they are done annually, or every 2 or 3 or 5 years as we heard on the townhall that burlington council just had last week. The issue is that we have no idea what our mains look like, many of us with homes built in the 70s have no idea what the road / municipal / regional systems look like. What we do know is that newer built areas, are being given oversized systems, and those of us below them before the lake are on legacy sized, and often degrading infrastructure that we have paid for with property taxes over 30+ years, and we are owed the same upgrades but we’re being told we need to double our tax rate to get them. How is that I have to subsidize the expanded capacity of those north of me on Dundas , and I don’t get the same options for my fellow legacy Buringtonians. How about be demand some accountability of our “naturallized watershed management programs” for the debris and the backups they have caused across this city, and how about the insurers demand the same of the municipality? Many of us have mitigated using the required upgrades and downspout disconnects yet the newer builds still add this water to our systems and inundate us here in the middle and lower parts of ward 3 and 4. It’s high time, Mayor, Council and Regional staff at the engineering and other departments are held to account.
“accountability of our ‘naturalized watershed management programes’
Absolutely Rob and all the other mismanaged issues that led to this disaster that Meed Ward assured the 2018 electorate that she knew about and would fix. Around 80% of flood damaged homes in this storm event are in Burlington.
Anne ran in the first election for Regonal Chair and the needed upgrades to our infrastructure was part of one of the candidates campaign, so this is not a new issue.
The big ice storm disaster some time back was also associated with cut back in tree trimming and no accountability.
The Region Review Team a few years back received a very comprehensive detailed list of issues the Minister and Premier should have been investigating, and taking action to protect taxpayers. It was a complete waste of time and effort.
This time, however, we will not stop with our efforts for investigation and corrective action to be taken under the 1988 Cabinet Directive written to protect taxpayers until we see the results we taxpayers deserve. This council and senior staff who have contributed to this disaster gone. .
Most of the street storm sewer grates are almost completely covered with leaves, twigs, flattened fast food and beverage containers, flattened soft drink, beer, RTD cans, cigarette and vaping packages in the Shoreacres neighbourhoods….year round. It is sad that Burlington residents cannot take the time to keep them clear in front of and near their homes.
It Is the responsibility of the homeowner and/or resident to maintain the grass on the boulevard or the City’s portion of a front yard. That responsibility extends to removing weeds that grow between the concrete sections of the sidewalk. Certainly in South Burlington these responsibilities are not being fulfilled. Why are homeowners/residents so lazy and seemingly unconcerned about how their street looks?
Why is there no by-law setting out this responsibility and private dwellings keeping creeks clear. We have by-laws and fines for everything from feeding the wild life to parking infractions. These are disaster causing situations and absolutyely nothing in the form of a by-law, not even annual reminder that it would help keep homes safe from flooding.
Not at all whichever one of you is writing, I responded to David Barkers assumption that homeowners are lazy and unconcerned about the city not fulfilling its obligations to its infrastructure and your own concern saying there should be a bylaw for homeowners to do city responsibility. No where in David’s post was he talking about streams running through someone’s property, nor was the storm damage caused by grass clippings from lawn cutting. Besides which, you avoided my direct question to you regarding your proposed bylaw
Catch basins are not on private land as a rule, they are on city owned streets and flood containments and are a city responsibility.
It would be neighborly to clean the basin on the street open front of one’s home but isn’t, nor should it be a property owners responsibility. The catch basins in the Cavendish community were on ditches and storm run off areas. What would the cities liability be under your proposed by law for residents to go clean a catch basin beside the 407?
Be realistic Bob. The conversation was about those catch basins you affect with your grass cutting etc and creeks running through your land.