Drainage
Rural Ditches and Drains
The Municipality of Leamington has approximately 375km of drains and ditches compiled of nearly 300 Municipal drains. Due to the flat terrain and predominantly agricultural lands that make up our Municipality, the importance of land drainage is unquestionable. The Drainage Act provides legislation from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness and provides a democratic procedure for the construction, improvement and maintenance of these communally owned drains. It is the duty of the Drainage Superintendent to work with landowners and administer The Drainage Act.
| Drain Maintenance |
|
Drainage works are maintained by the Municipality at the expense of all the upstream lands and roads assessed by the Engineer's report. Any person, whose property is injured, may give the Clerk 45 days notice to repair the drainage works. If an owner obstructs a drain, the obstruction may be removed at his expense. A Municipality with an approved drainage superintendent may receive a grant for maintenance work. |
| Improvement/New Construction |
|
Council can improve a drain on the report of an Engineer, without a petition. An owner can make a written request to Council for the improvements of a drain, or, Council can initiate the improvements. The procedure follows that for a petition drain as much as possible starting at step 3 in the Order of Procedure. |
| The Tile Drainage Act |
|
The Tile Drainage Act makes loans available for the drainage work done on a farm. A loan is obtained from the provincial government through the township council. After the township has passed the necessary borrowing by-law, an assessed owner may make application for a loan. The application is made prior to the work commencing. The loan cannot exceed 75% of the total cost of the drainage system. The approval of a loan application lies within the discretion of Council. Council may request such information as they are required to arrive at a decision. Written notice of the Council's decision is given to each applicant. After Council's approval of the loan, the work may commence.
Agricultural Drainage Infrastructure Program (Farm Grant)
|
| Roadside Ditches |
| Roadside ditches or enclosed drainage systems in the rural area are designed to handle road water only.
On occasion a property that drains into a roadside drain requests the drain or tile to be maintained. Since this is not a municipal drain there is no way to assess costs fairly, therefore the municipality has implemented a two-third, one-third cost sharing. |
| Court of Revision |
| The Court of Revision is an appeal body established under Section 97 the Drainage Act. The Act sets out a democratic process for constructing new drains or improving existing drains. The basic idea is that property owners who benefit from a new or improved drain should pay their share toward the cost of construction.
A Drainage report is prepared by a drainage engineer outlining proposed drainage works and includes a schedule of affected properties. Once the report is provisionally adopted by Council, a notice of the Court of Revision is sent to all affected property owners. The purpose of the Court of Revision is to hear any objections to the charges being assessed to individual property owners as outlined in the report. Affected property owners may object to any charges being assessed by filing a Notice of Appeal with the Clerk within 10 days of the sitting of the Court of Revision. The Court of Revision only has authority to change the schedule of assessments. Members cannot make changes to the technical aspects of the engineers report. Members of the Court of Revision may hear appeals on three grounds:
The Court of Revision hears these appeals and decides whether they are valid. Members of the Court
For a more comprehensive overview as to Drainage Act Appeals, please refer to the Drainage Act Appeals Fact Sheet.
If you wish to file an appeal, please complete the below form and submit it to clerks@leamington.ca
|
Contact(s)
