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7| O akville B eaver | T hursday,A ugust 30,2018 insidehalton.com An Oakville senior who resides in the Falgarwood area says she is shocked the Town of Oakville is at- tempting to make her pay for what she argues is clearly a crumbling piece of town infrastructure. Mary Kenner says she first realized something was wrong in mid-July when a small sinkhole opened up in the driveway she shares with her neigh- bour. Kenner soon discovered that the culvert, which runs underneath the drive- way had crumbled and col- lapsed. The retired teacher said she contacted the town, who attempted clear the blocked culvert. However, this only made the sink- hole larger. Worse came as town staff notified Kenner that she and her neighbour are responsible for repairs to the driveway as well as the culvert. This is despite the cul- vert being located within the municipal right-of-way. "I was stunned," said Kenner. "This is a public street with a public catch basin and that is a public cul- vert." Town staff disagrees. "It is the property own- er's responsibility," said Martin Maguire, senior manager of works opera- tions with the Town of Oak- ville. "You are correct it is physically within the mu- nicipal right-of-way, but the apron portion of any driveway is the property owner's responsibility. In the case where there are ditches and a culvert in or- der to get the driveway to the travel portion of the road, that also belongs to the property owner. Essen- tially the culvert is sup- porting the apron so both components are privately owned." Kenner says repairing the damage is a massive undertaking, which she simply cannot afford. She said not only will she have to replace the 35- foot corroded culvert that runs underneath her drive- way, but also the cement headwall and the stone, gravel and asphalt above the culvert. Kenner said the quotes she has received so far put the price tag for the opera- tion somewhere between $4,000 and $6,000. "I can't pay this. I would have to borrow," said Ken- ner. "The thing is it's not mine. The whole point here is it is not mine." Maguire said the town is working to contact the neighbouring property owner who shares the driveway with Kenner to make them aware there is maintenance that requires action from both property owners. In an effort to see how other municipalities han- dle these situations the Oakville Beaver contacted the City of Mississauga. Public relations super- visor Carley Smith DeBe- nedictis said typically the City of Mississauga repairs culverts, but driveways are the responsibility of the homeowner. That said, she noted there are many factors that would contribute to deter- mining responsibility for repair. The City of Burlington declined to comment. Despite traffic cones be- ing placed around the sink- hole, Kenner had liability concerns, noting a child could fall in and badly cut themselves on the rusty crumbled pieces of culvert. Kenner says this issue goes well beyond her, not- ing other culverts in the Falgarwood area are just as old as the one under her driveway. Some culverts are older, meaning other residents will soon be fac- ing the same situation. For Kenner, the solution to this problem is clear. "I want the storm pipe replaced by the town who owns it and the land that it sits on as well as the cul- vert ditch, the catch-basin and the asphalt apron," she said. "I will not assume liabil- ities for something that I do not own. I pay taxes, that al- so pays for town infrastruc- ture every year and I will not pay twice." NEWS TOWN OF OAKVILLE SAYS CULVERTS UNDER DRIVEWAYS BELONG TO RESIDENTS DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com THE ISSUE: SENIOR ON THE HOOK FOR REPAIRING CRUMBLING TOWN INFRASTRUCTURE LOCAL IMPACT: COLLAPSED CULVERT A PROPERTY OWNER'S RESPONSIBILITY "This is a public street with a public catch basin and that is a public culvert." 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