Summerside -
Filling up ditches along a Summerside street is emptying the pocket books of some residents.
The city's ditch infilling program is currently underway on Pope Road.
Costs related to the work are split three ways between the city and the federal and provincial governments. However Summerside is covering 90 per cent of its share while asking residents of the streets receiving work to pay the remaining 10 per cent.
But that 10 per cent is working out to thousands of dollars which is more than some homeowners can afford, said Pope Road resident Gladys Bryan.
"I agree with the ditch infilling, but it's government property and I think they should be able to do that free of charge," said Bryan. "I don't know what I'm going to do when I can't pay it. At 92 they wouldn't throw me in jail would they? They just can't roll over people like that."
In a letter sent to Pope Road residents, the city estimated property owner contributions to the project to be $53.97 per cubic metre of frontage, the average cost during two previous years of ditch infilling.
Homeowners can either pay their 10 per cent in one lump sum or have the amount added to their regular property tax over a 10-year period with interest added.
The ditch in front of Bryan's home has not yet been filled, but she estimates the bill will total about $2,000 based on the size of her land.
City councillor Garth Lyle, who lives in the area and owns a business on Pope Road, said the city's options for repayment aren't meant to cause any hardship for residents.
"There's never been any legal challenges to this program and I've never heard of anybody being forced to sell their property because of the ditch infilling," Lyle said.
"We realize no one needs another bill but this is the way the city has always done ditch infilling. We're working with the residents to make this as affordable as we can for them."
Residential areas must submit a petition for ditch infilling signed by as close to 100 per cent of residents as possible. Pope Road, however, does not fall into a residential category, so homeowners there had no say in whether their street was selected, Lyle said.
Ken Cornish, another Pope Road resident whose bill for the work was calculated at $1,600, doesn't agree with charging residents or the arbitrary manner in which his street was selected.
"Cosmetics is the biggest aspect to it. We just didn't realize it would be such a cost," he said. "We felt the city should pay the whole shot."
