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To repair or walk away: Mono wrestles with land drain’s future

December 4, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

Mono council was in a bind about what to do with a municipal drain.

The Rayfield Municipal Drain, though updated, has been around for about 100 years. A number of landowners in the drain’s watershed area have requested that Mono abandon the drain. A petition as part of the lobby for abandonment was delivered to the town on Sept. 29.

Gerd Uderstadt, the town’s drainage superintendent, reported on Oct. 2 that the petition did not satisfy requirements for the number of signatories and the land area they represent.

So a second petition was submitted to council on Oct. 6.

While this petition had more signatories, Uderstadt confirmed that it too did not meet the requirements.

All that happened after the town received a resident’s request for maintenance on the drain. Uderstadt forwarded the report regarding the maintenance request to council.

And that presents a quandary for the municipality, said Sid Vander Veen, a drainage specialist at R.J. Burnside.

“So now we’re at the point where we have on one hand council is dealing with a request for maintenance and repair and council is dealing with a request to abandon,” said Vander Veen.

“How do you deal with that?”

Because the maintenance request was submitted in writing, he said council may face liability if the work isn’t performed.

Although the petitions don’t meet the requirements as set out in legislation, council still has the authority to abandon the drain if it sees fit.

“There’s times that a drain doesn’t serve a useful purpose, and so councils may say we want to abandon this,” Vander Veen said.

Notice would have to be given to watershed property owners, he said. Property owners who benefit from the drain have the right to request an engineer’s report on the abandonment.

That engineer would determine whether it is justified to abandon the drain. If that report determines some landowners benefit from the drain, that could set up an appeal to a referee.

“As you say there are two issues here at hand,” Councillor Melinda Davie said. “But I feel that the actual original request has been hijacked by the abandonment issue.”

“I can’t say that I had a plan one way or another,” Vander Veen said.

He wanted council to be aware of how to decide which action to take on the Rayfield drain.

“And you decide whatever you need to decide,” he said.

It’s very possible a court may say the town has a responsibility to maintain that drain and honour the initial request for maintenance.

Myles Douglas of R.J. Burnside said two culverts along the drain have been blocked by beaver dams, and there’s extensive siltation at another piece of it. That causes flooding on properties owned by the requesters of the repairs.

The primary reason for the request to abandon the drain is that the watercourse has become a naturalized stream that now serves as brook trout cold-water habitat. And that’s in an area that’s designated a provincially significant wetland.

Coun. Ralph Manktelow asked if the drain is necessary for the pair of properties it serves.

Douglas affirmed its importance.

“We really need to know fully whether this should be and would benefit the upstream properties if it’s all cleaned out,” Coun. Davie said.

Vander Veen said the drain maintenance is required because some upstream property owners have submerged pipes. Conditions are imposed on repairs to ensure downstream fish habitat isn’t harmed.

Work is done during dryer weather, and the banks are revegetated afterward.

“We try to minimize the environmental impacts,” Vander Veen said.

Mayor John Creelman said there are no issues with a farmer producing a crop on one property, and the other bit of land is a tree plantation.

Douglas said there’s a part of the land that the farmer doesn’t work with because it is too wet.

Coun. Elaine Capes asked about a possible downside to abandonment.

The upper stream property owners could petition to have it returned to use because they need it. And the town may have to cover damages to the properties.

“If it’s abandoned and property owners still have a need for improved drainage, where else is that water going to go?” Vander Veen said.

In the end, council directed that repairs to the drain be carried out in accordance with the recommendations in a report by R.J. Burnside. The maintenance costs will be covered by the upstream property owners.

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