Citizens believe residents should not be held responsible for sewer backups

Portage residents are speaking up after disagreeing on who should have to pay for a series of sewer backups in the city.

Ria Zwiep, along with 6 others who were affected, attended the December 12th council meeting to discuss the sewage backups in 12 houses along 12th Street SW. The sewage leaked into the basements of the houses on July 19th. She says the conclusion made by Western Financial Insurer, which states that the City of Portage la Prairie is not responsible for the damages, is poor.

“We've been told, now, we don't know whether it's EF Moon workers or city workers that are telling us these things because they just show up on the street,” notes Zwiep. “But, they said that those holes that they're digging when they have pumps running in them are supposed to be monitored during the night, and apparently they weren't being monitored that night.”

Ria Zwiep

She says the workers jumped into action after it was already too late. Zwiep states the group impacted received a letter from the insurance company, which claimed heavy rainfall was the cause of the sewage leak. Those affected don’t agree with their findings since they’ve been told by a former city employee that the water and sewage lines are separate, meaning rainfall shouldn’t influence sewage at all.

“It rained in the whole city, not just on 1/2 of 12th Street,” explains Zwiep. “The other side of the street didn't get any damage.”

The homeowners of 12th Street SW say this has been a nightmare, as the majority of those that attended City Council claim the damages to be over $10,000. One man says his son has been dealing with respiratory issues, which has led to them having to temporarily move out, on top of the roughly $35,000 that will be needed to fully repair his basement.

“We certainly appreciate the delegation coming,” mentions Mayor Sharilyn Knox. “We're definitely always open to the public and hearing what they have to say in situations like this.”

Mayor Sharilyn Knox

Knox weighs in, saying the council has to let the investigation run its course and not interfere.

“Our insurance did an investigation of the incident and deemed that the city was not responsible for what happened,” explains Knox. “So, we just have to follow that process and go from there.”

While Zwiep is glad that the council welcomed the group of homeowners, she notes that simply being welcoming won’t help them get their money back into their bank accounts. When asked if she was satisfied with the outcome of tonight’s council, she said it was too early to tell.

“I just want to get my money back that I had to pay to repair my home,” says Zwiep.

She notes that this isn’t the end of their fight to get their money back. Quite the contrary, she notes, saying it’s only the beginning.