'The city is responsible': Homeowners demand city foot the bill after construction project filled homes with grout
Some Seven Oaks-area residents are voicing frustrations with the City of Winnipeg’s slow response to property and street damages caused by sewer line repairs that happened almost two months ago.
In late May, work on a new land drainage sewer shaft at Semple Avenue and Scotia Street, completed by a City-hired contractor, caused a breach in the combined sewer shaft. This breach ended up pumping grout – a cement mixture – into several nearby homes.
“We’re waiting, waiting on our insurance when we feel the City’s insurance should be involved,” said Kaitlin Bialek, whose Semple Avenue home was filled with cement.
“The City should be saying, ‘yeah, we’re going to cover this, like, don’t worry about it.”
Bialek said the damage to her home is extensive, with repair estimates in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Cement is seen filling up Kaitlin Bialek's basement after a leak which impacted around a dozen houses on May 29, 2021. (Source: Kaitlin Bialek)
Cement is seen filling up Kaitlin Bialek's basement after a leak which impacted around a dozen houses on May 29, 2021. (Source: Kaitlin Bialek)
She said the city hasn’t been very responsive and she’s received no definitive answer, as of yet, as to whether or not the city will help in covering the repair costs.
“We can’t afford to have a hundred thousand dollars or fifty thousand dollars or whatever it ends up being,” she said, “We don’t have the money to just fix this problem that the city created.”
George Munroe’s home, right next to Bialek’s, was also impacted by the sewer shaft breach.
Munroe said his weeping tiles were filled with cement and the city left the street, marred by large spots of unearthed asphalt, in a state of disrepair.
“The city is responsible for these damages,” said Munroe. “Why should we, as homeowners, use our insurance company to pay for the damages?”
If the city doesn’t respond to requests to pay for repairs, Munroe said he’s considering taking legal action.
“If they’re not going to come to the plate and do the right thing, well, then we’ll see them in court,” said Munroe.
Semple Avenue and Scotia Street in Winnipeg have been left in a state of disrepair after work on a new land drainage sewer shaft in May 2021 filled homes with a cement mixture. (Source: Michael D'Alimonte/ CTV News Winnipeg)
Semple Avenue and Scotia Street in Winnipeg have been left in a state of disrepair after work on a new land drainage sewer shaft in May 2021 filled homes with a cement mixture. (Source: Michael D'Alimonte/ CTV News Winnipeg)
Area councillor Ross Eadie said the city purchased liability insurance for the original sewer repairs and all damages should be covered.
But it’s going to take some time.
“The travesty is, these are residents,” said Eadie. “The City of Winnipeg taxpayers are victims here.”
“But this whole risk management and insurance stuff, the way it works, it’s not a pretty process.”
Eadie added the repairs to homes and the street itself will take months to finish.
And time is certainly on Bialek’s mind.
“If the city doesn’t rectify this soon and we go through the winter with this, in the spring we’re going to have a pool in our basement,” said Bialek.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.