Goulds residents say city downplaying concerns
Homeowners on two streets fear more flooding, sewage backups with start of new development
Residents on two streets in the Goulds area of St. John’s want written assurances from the city that if their homes flood or there are sewage backups after a new subdivision is built nearby, the damage will be taken care of as promised.
The streets — Everard Avenue and Kieley Drive — have suffered from a number of floods and sewer backups over the years, and residents argue that sewage and storm runoff infrastructure needs to be upgraded before a new 44-lot subdivision (22 duplexes) is completed and loaded onto the system.
The housing development is expected to connect the ends of Everard Avenue and Kieley Drive.
Longtime resident Carol Ann Parrell, who says she is the selfappointed spokesperson for her neighbours, said she has been contacting St. John’s City Hall over the past week since land clearing began.
The answer she finally received, she said, was that the developer/contractor will construct a retention pond that should resolve the problem, and will also be responsible for any flooding or sewer backup damage within the first three years after the new subdivision is built.
“What happens after that?” Parrell said. “This doesn’t give us much comfort.
“We don’t have anything against the development, but the infrastructure on these streets should have been upgraded before it started.”
Since the proposed development went before city council in 2014, residents of the 28 homes on Everard Avenue and Kieley Drive have been fighting the city, saying the additional strain of 44 new homes on the aged and inadequate infrastructure will increase the risk of flooding and backups.
“We have had problems with the sewer system since I moved here in 1989,” Parrell said. “We’ve had homes flooded out from the system backing up. We’ve had raw sewage in bathtubs.”
She said the city has done “patch work” over time, but the issues continue.
Residents had been demanding upgrades to the infrastructure long before the subdivision development was proposed to St. John’s city council.
To accommodate the development, the city had to rezone the land from low to medium density.
“I have documentation going back and forth with the city since 2014 on this,” Parrell said. “We thought it was on hold, but all of a sudden last Thursday they started clearing brush the area, and now the dump trucks and equipment are working on the land, getting it ready for development. Everybody is in a panic.
“I’ve been on the phone for the last five days trying to get answers. I called the mayor’s office, and I finally got someone to tell me what was going on. They are getting the land ready for development and will build a retention pond and everything will be fine, they said.
“Well, we want confirmation we will be fine. Is this something that is in the contract signed with the developer, or just talk over the table? We want to see it in writing.”
In the past, the residents signed petitions, voiced their concern at public meetings and called councillors.
Parrell said they never could get a straight answer.
“The engineer on the phone today said we ‘might’ be on an infrastructure list. I said, ’What do you mean we might be on a list?’”
The Telegram was unable to reach the councillor responsible for the area, Ward 5 Coun. Wally Collins, before deadline Wednesday.