Mudslide victims dubious of gov’t compensation
One farmer says: “I feel like I’m living in a Lewis Carroll novel”
by WENDY JOHNSON
OLIVER – Mistakes come with a sliding scale of consequences. And the consequences of a series of mistakes and oversights made by several official parties prior to the June 13 mudslide in Oliver have been catastrophic for residents in the vicinity of Testalinda Creek.
Solicitor General Mike De Jong met with residents on July 14 and advised them the government was accepting all 12 recommendations made in a damning report by deputy solicitor general, Peter Morhart.
“The review highlights evidence of a consistent pattern of concerns and warnings about the state of the Testalinden Dam dating back to the 1960s,” he said, adding that the province was looking at ways to build on existing compensation programs for either remediating or purchasing properties.
But those ‘mea culpas’ and promises of greater remuneration to the people impacted by the slide are being viewed with scepticism.
“We don’t know what the government’s offer is so far,” said Kathy Mercier when asked if she and husband Gene were happy with the meeting. “They just said they are going to meet with each property owner to discuss the situation and see ‘what would make that property owner whole.’ But he did say that if your property was worth $2 million at noon on June 13, but cleaning it up would cost $10 million then that probably wouldn’t happen.”
The Merciers, who lost their home and their B&B business, plus farm equipment and half their Merlot vineyard in that mudslide, are not pleased with the qualifying offer of assistance.
Phrases like ‘compensation based on fair market value’ were being bandied about, but they feel the province is not taking into consideration the complexities of land values in the Okanagan, particularly when it comes to agricultural land and especially when it’s prime grape land on the Golden Mile.
“We have grape land and where are you going to find that now? People are pulling out apples and planting grapes in hayfields and you can see what happens on land not meant for grapes.
“And who’s going to determine fair market value? Realtors who call everything grape-suitable?”
She noted one woman offered to sell them a 10-acre parcel of land for $1.2 million and it was nothing more than ranchland.
“I was shocked. That’s $120,000 an acre for land that’s no good for grapes. And what if we don’t want to sell? What if we just want our land and home back?”
The Merciers still don’t have public access to their property. When the creek carved a new bed for itself that Sunday, the torrent took out a bridge and access to a cul-de-sac from which several driveways radiated, including theirs. Right now, their only way in is over a waterworks maintenance lane along a narrow sandy bank and then through a neighbour’s driveway.
And this is where Disaster Relief Assistance’s promise to ensure public access to affected residents’ homes starts to break down in the face of the logistics and regulations.
Before that can happen, officials have to decide the creek’s eventual flow – in its current or previous bed or even in a newly created channel. Its present course runs right through the Mercier property, meaning the couple loses that portion of their land along with an approximate 50-foot easement on both banks, similar to a road allowance.
“We’ve been told they can put in a temporary culvert to give us access but in order to do that, they’ll be working on our land and they aren’t allowed to work on private property without our permission.
“Then Highways wondered who would maintain the culvert in that event. We would have to give them temporary permission and sign off on custody of that land for a year so that Highways could get to the creek to build/maintain the culvert and clear enough debris flow to reach our driveway.”
And that raises the question of whether their property is even redeemable.
“Well, all the ‘ologists’ have been to the property and we’ll have to meet with them and find out because each property is different.”
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