Pierrefonds residents angry in dispute over dike
Homeowners say it took too long for city to build a wall to protect their houses
On 5th Ave. N. in Roxboro, they call a three-foot-high wall of concrete blocks and sandbags near the tracks the Furlano dam.
The dam is named for a local resident who tried to build it himself and was arrested in the process.
Residents said it took the city five days too long to build the wall. Public works employees and firefighters built it Thursday in a ditch alongside the tracks of the DeuxMontagnes Line.
Residents said if the wall had been built Saturday night as the city initially intended, it would have plugged a hole in a threefoot-high wall that spans several kilometres in Roxboro, acting as a barrier between the river and homes.
The proof, they said, is that after it was built Thursday night, the water on the street, which was as deep as five feet, was pumped out using the local pumping station in about three hours.
The reason the dike was not built appears to be murky, as both the city and the Agence métropolitaine de transport, the public agency that owns the tracks, are blaming each other for the folly.
The city said it asked the AMT on Saturday for permission to build the dike, but the AMT said it never received a formal request to build next to the track.
“We never received a formal request on Saturday or Sunday,” AMT spokesperson Fanie StPierre said Friday. “And I checked repeatedly.”
She also said officials from the AMT were on the scene on Sunday morning with city officials and they all agreed building a dike would not have been fruitful.
Pierrefonds-Roxboro spokesperson Johanne Palladini said the public works department was willing to give it a try.
St-Pierre said the AMT finally received a request on Wednesday from the city to build on their territory. Officials from the agency were there to ensure the safety of the workers as they built the dike on Thursday, St-Pierre said.
The residents said they don’t care who is to blame, but it is clear that if the dike had been built before the floodwaters rose, there is a strong chance the 30 homes on the street would have been spared.
“Building that dike is like plugging your finger in a hole of a wall,” said Jeff Arsenault, who lives on 5th Ave. Arsenault said he was watching all day Saturday and Sunday as the water rose alongside the tracks.
As the water level started climbing, Arsenault said he called the city to build the small wall next to the tracks, and at one point a crew arrived on Saturday night with several concrete blocks, ready to build. They stopped before doing any work, however.
On Sunday, the river overflowed from the tracks, Arsenault said, engulfing about 30 houses in the process.
Fuming residents were speaking out about the problem on Tuesday as local resident Alain Furlano took it into his own hands to collect sandbags and try to build the wall himself. When he did not heed warnings from police officers to stop, he was arrested and charged with wilfully obstructing a police officer. He was released on bail, but is not permitted to return to his flooded house.
On Friday, several residents were on the street assessing the damage to their properties. Some wore Tshirts that bore the words “Free Alain” on one side and “I Am the Flood” on the back. One house had a wooden board with black paint that also read “Free Alain.”
Arsenault said he’s furious with both the city and the AMT for their inaction. He believes the agency refused to allow the wall to be built for fear the diverted water would interfere with train operations.
“They said to themselves, ‘these are the rats. Let them drown. We’re going to protect the train,’ ” Arsenault said.
Klaus Bodnik, another resident of the street, said he’s going to be sure that his anger is known to the city.
“I’m very angry,” Bodnik said. “Angry enough that I am going to remember this in November (during the municipal election).”
Frances Maxant, a mother of four boys, and a lawyer, said she intends to send out demand letters in the coming days to ask the city and the AMT for retribution.
She said if she doesn’t get retribution, she will consider starting a class action against either the city or the AMT.
They said to themselves, ‘these are the rats. Let them drown. We’re going to protect the train.’