Pierrefonds-Roxboro mayor could have prevented floods: lawsuit

CTV Montreal: Flood victims sue Residents of Pierrefonds-Roxboro are suing the city, saying they could have done more to prevent last year's floods.

A group of residents in Pierrefonds-Roxboro are taking the borough to court, saying the mayor could have prevented their homes from being damaged in last year’s spring floods.

The group of 32 homeowners said Mayor Jim Beis failed to fix a dike, despite requests to do so after it was breached several years ago. The lawsuit alleges that had the dike been repaired, the flooding wouldn’t have been as severe.

Some of the homes, which are located roughly 100 metres from the Riviere-des-Prairies, suffered as much as $135,000 worth of damage in the floods. Three of the houses were so severely damaged, they had to be demolished.

Resident Klaus Bodnick’s basement filled with four feet of water, causing $40,000 in damage. While Bodnick has received money from the province to help with the repairs, he did pay for much of it out of pocket and is suing the city for $20,000.

He said that along with the lack of dike repairs, the mayor failed to deliver sandbags on time.

“In the lead up to the flood, citizens on the street wrote emails to the mayor and requests help,” he said. “People were screaming for sandbags and the mayor would come back with ‘We have our experts looking at it and everything is okay. If the time comes that you’re flooded, you’ll have sandbags. The mayor even went on TV and said we have plenty of sand, call 311 and we’ll deliver sandbags. It never happened.”

Another resident, Alain Furlano, also said his home was severely damaged and is suing the city as well. He said his priority is making the sure the dike is repaired to ensure there is not a repeat of last year's situation. While sandbags have been placed to hold back the river, he doesn't believe it's enough.

"That's not the right place to put it. The right place is to put it against the train tracks and (the bike path)," he said. "That's where it's been, that's where it's effective."

In early May, it was discovered sandbags stored in a borough warehouse were destroyed due to taking up too much space, a move Beis admitted was a mistake.

Bodnik said the city has not fully owned up to its failings and he's worried the city is not prepared should the river overflow its banks again this year.

"They need to own up to their failings," he said. "They need to realize where they went wrong and change their ways."

Beis declined to comment, citing the ongoing legal proceedings.