I am writing to you once again regarding the water issues in Willowbrook.  The lack of action by Jeff Wiseman and the ministry of transportation is very disappointing to say the least.  Many of the residents have been writing letters and making phone calls but to no avail.  Yes, the culvert at Goldtau Rd was cleaned out, but this is only one small piece of a much larger situation that needs immediate attention.  As Mr. Wiseman suggested in one of his emails, many of the residents have now dredged their portion of the creek, removing some of the silt that Mr. Wisman attributed to some of the flooding issues.  He was correct, this was slowing down the flow of water in the stream.  However, now this increased flow is merely pooling at Goldau Rd because of the lack of maintenance and/or fact that the road maintenance and box culvert, that has been promised, has still not been completed.

I spoke with one neighbour and Goldtau Rd is already flooded rendering our neighbour, Mrs Cooke with little and possibly no emergency access.

The ministry has not maintained any other culverts.  There are two, one on each end of Carr Cres – no maintenance.  The one under Meyers Rd – no maintenance.  The one under Jones Way – no maintenance.  And still no resolution to the Goldtau issues.  The RDOS recently sent out flood preparedness information.  I would love to be able to put in action the suggestions they are making.  Unfortunately, for me and other Willowbrook residents, these precautions will not help us as our flooding is ground water flooding which is exacerbated by the dismal maintenance and inaction of the ministry of transportation to offer us the basic level of maintenance, not only recently but for many  of the previous years.

I pay my taxes, don’t I and my fellow Willowbrook residents deserve the attention of MOTI to complete the work that they are responsible for?  Or is the fact that we live out in the “country” somehow preclude us from the same level of service afforded other tax payers.

I am attaching at copy of the RDOS flood information document that I received.  I find it almost laughable (if it weren’t such a serious matter) that one of the things they recommend people do is contact  Ministry of Transportation.  Do what avail?  Willowbrook residents have been contacting MOTI for close to a year and what has this achieved?  Many residents have just finished putting their houses back together after last year’s devastation, only to be faced with the exact same possibility looming around the corner.  We cannot expect a different outcome if we don’t change anything.  If we could complete the work ourselves we would.  Unfortunately, we are at the mercy of a completely inept department that keeps giving us the run around with little to no concern for residents, their property, their health and safety nor their peace of mind.

In your last letter to me you did note that MOTI is very busy and I can understand that, would it be an option for the newly formed Willowbrook Advisory Committee to take on the responsibility of having the work completed by an independent contractor and then forward the bill for the work to you or MOTI?  It would take this onerous job off MOTI’s to do list and the work could be completed in a timely manner.

I did notice yesterday that ARGO managed to come up to Willowbrook and put up a “Road Flooded” sign on Willowbrook Rd, but no actual work being done to mitigate our problems.

I am frustrated.  Willowbrook residents are frustrated.  We don’t want to spend our free time writing letters to various government departments in order to get them to do the job they are supposed to do.  We too, have much better things to do.  Why is it that we are forced to spend time complaining and begging for your attention?  Don’t we pay for this service?   It very disheartening that MOTI’s continued avoidance and inactivity to this matter, may once again, have very catastrophic consequences.

Where else would you suggest the Willowbrook Advisory Council and Willowbrook home owners turn to for a solution?  What do you suggest we do to preserve the value of our largest investment – our homes?  LET’S  DO THE JOBS WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING.   No more excuses, no more waiting for the weather to clear up, no more stalling tactics and no more letter writing required.

I sincerely hope that you and Jeff Wiseman take our situation as seriously as Willowbrook residents do and that we can get your attention to get things done.

Editor’s note – similar to a previous letter from Rick Knodel – limited work has been done on this access to the Cooke’s property.