Ward 10 Learn the issues, know the area and meet the candidates
GROWING PAINS AND PRESSURE: Expect the tug-of-war over development, its economic benefits, infrastructure demands, traffic concerns and farmland consumption, to continue in coming years.
IT WAS THE WORST DRUBBING this Stoney Creek shoreline neighbourhood had seen in years.
The waves from Lake Ontario pounded the back of John McLeod’s Ward 10 home for two days in April.
They dislodged a 36,000-pound cement hangwall from the edge of his Church Street property and turned it over twice.
“This is how strong the water was,” McLeod said, surveying the barrier, only now being removed for something stronger.
The violent ice storm caused about $125,000 in damage to his home, which insurance is covering for the most part, McLeod said.
“I was one of the lucky ones.” Though a rare event, sometimes called a “100-year storm,” powerful tempests are thought to be occurring more frequently due to climate change.
This casts a dark cloud over lowlying parts of Hamilton already prone to flooding — and represents a drain on taxpayers’ collective pocketbook.
City officials have pointed to how basement flooding, escarpment mudslides and high lake levels have caused millions in damage in recent years.
A new report by the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario notes the “unseasonal winter” mid-April ice storm “left thousands of people without power in southern Ontario and caused $187 million in insured damages.”
McLeod’s home was one of about 20 that were evacuated while firefighters responded to waterlogged shoreline-hugging neighbourhoods in Ward 10.
The city has received four liability claims resulting from the April ice storm. Meanwhile, 50 applications qualified for a grant program. The city has paid out nearly $40,000.
The waves were one thing, but the water that pooled on his frontyard, ruining items in his shed and garage, could have been avoided, McLeod said.
Stormwater drains on the city’s portion of a neighbour’s land were clogged. “It was completely forgotten about,” McLeod added.
The city is trying to keep better tabs on such debris, said Andrew Grice, director of water services. “That’s an inherent chalenge with the stormwater system.”
One potential solution, although not a “silver bullet,” is a special floodprevention device called a wastop valve, Grice said.
Public works is testing such a valve at the end of Grays Road. “So far, we’re very satisfied with how it’s working and we do have plans to expand.”
Flooding is one issue for Ward 10, but here are others that might be on voters’ minds:
Development pressure
“We were classified as the middle of nowhere.”
This is how Felena Montecalvo remembers the Winona of her youth where she currently works at Memphis Fire Barbeque Company on Highway 8.
The hamlet still has the charms of its agricultural roots but Hamilton’s urban boundary is digging them out. Developer signs are staking claim to farmers’ fields, promising new homes along Barton Street.
It has likely helped business, Montevalvo said, but is also wistful of the Winona of old. “It’s a little bit of both.”
One mainstay is the E.D. Smith plant, which still employs a jam-making workforce. Across Highway 8, farmland remains just that.
In 2015, the Smith family asked the province to take the parcel out of the Greenbelt, but the province said no.
The decision sat fine with Environment Hamilton but the agency is concerned about losing other farmland in the area.
“Everything north of Highway 8, we’re not going to be growing tender fruit there; we’re growing more housing,” executive director Lynda Lukasik said.
Expect the tug-of-war over development — its economic benefits, infrastructure demands, traffic concerns and farmland consumption — to continue in coming years.
Tree canopy
Ward 10 — which straddles the QEW and runs from the lake to the escarpment — is home to many ash trees. Many of them are not healthy, thanks to the pesky emerald ash borer.
Since 2013, the city has removed 1,900 ash trees in the area and planted 814 replacement trees. Across Hamilton, about 17,000 ashes have been removed and 8,266 replaced.
The city embarked on its ash tree management plan in 2012. The goal is to replace all of the sick trees and replace them by 2022.
The city is trying to keep better tabs on such debris. That’s an inherent challenge with the stormwater system.”
ANDREW GRICE
City of Hamilton, director of water services in reference to the April 2018 flooding