A hard no to give as Woodlands County Council turns down an impossible request

A homeowner in Woodlands County, who suffered significant damage and loss along their riverside
property during the recent flooding, sent a letter requesting help restoring the eroded portion of the
riverbank. At the July 19 Woodlands County Council meeting, the landowner’s letter and request were
shared with Council.
Andre Bachand, Director of Infrastructure Services, explained that the riverbank portion the landowner
sought help rebuilding was on private property. He said the County had obtained a legal opinion. He
stated that the municipality is not responsible for “reestablishing land or legal access when a river or
water body changes direction.”
He said the portion eroded included approximately 65 metres of the homeowner’s driveway. “The
County did obtain emergency approval to reconstruct the roadway. Given that the new riverbank is not
identifiable at this time, we are constructing the road far enough to give them an approach to their
property. However, the approach will not meet the guidelines of a twenty-metre setback from the
property pin because there just isn’t enough property there,” explained Bachand.
He further explained that the setback would be, at best, two metres from the pin. “If the County was to
reconstruct the bank as requested, we would be required to obtain the engineered drawings, get all the
provincial approvals, apply to the province, hopefully, get approval to do the work, and the work to
reestablish the bank would be well in excess of a million dollars.”
Bachand noted that Woodlands County had applied for the Province’s Disaster Recovery Program. If
approved, private property owners would have the option to apply to the Province for help mitigating
the costs of flood damage and the subsequent repairs that are needed on their private properties. He
said whether the Province would fund a bank reestablishment or protection would be identified then.
Two pictures included in the meeting’s agenda package showed Council the immense erosion that took
place. “The driveway is no longer there. The end of the road is no longer there,” said Bachand.
Administration recommended the Council deny the request to restore the bank and advise the property
owner to file a claim if and when the government of Alberta approves the County’s application to the
Disaster Recovery Program.
Councillor Alan Deane asked for more information on the provincial program Bachand had spoken of.
“Just so I understand the process, a resident can not apply for disaster relief funding unless the
municipality has already applied and has been approved?”
Bachand said if/when the Province of Alberta approves the County’s disaster claim, it confirms that a
disaster occurred and then allows private property owners to apply for support too. The County must be
approved first, as step one in the process.
Bachand explained that Woodlands County crews would be repairing the damage to the roadway and
that the road would extend roughly “eight or nine metres past the property line so that we can give
them an approach.” He said the property owner could make a road on their own property to access their
land from the newly created road. “They can build their driveway from there.”

CAO Gordon Frank clarified that the County was not obligated to do so. “We are putting an approach to
their property line, and they have to build to that point if they want. We have no legal obligation.
However, we felt there was enough there to build the road to that point.”
Councillor Peter Kuelken motioned to deny the claim, as recommended by Administration. After
accepting his motion, Reeve Dave Kusch commented that it’s a tough decision, adding, “This is where
we’re at.”
With a motion on the table, Councillor Kuelken asked what would happen now that the river had
changed. “Is this now, because the river has changed direction, going to become an ongoing issue, and
how would that be dealt with?” Bachand said it would likely cause future concern. “Our assessment is
that given that the bank, as it’s been eroded, comes to an abrupt end right at that corner, it’s likely going
to cause issues down the road.”
Reeve Dave Kusch asked for more information on what would be done to protect the road. “With the
discussion that the water is probably going to cause issues in the future, do we have a plan or any action
that we are looking at to remediate that, to maintain our roadway?” Bachand explained that they plan
to armour the end of the roadway and that any area that would affect the County’s road allowance
would also be armoured.
Councillor Deane asked if Administration had had the chance to speak with the landowner, given the
letter was dated July 14. Bachand said he had not spoken to the property owners since the request was
sent. “I did advise him the County was going to build an approach, and they would be required to
construct a driveway at their cost. We did discuss the riverbank and that it would be expensive for the
County and that once the Province declares a disaster, they would be eligible to apply (for funding) at
that point.”
Councillor Jeremy Wilhelm asked if there was a timeline for completing the approach. Bachand
explained that it was weather dependent because the material there turns into “soup” when wet. He
said the homeowners have temporary road access through the road allowance and hoped to get in to
start working as soon as possible. The vote to deny the request was unanimous.