Citizens of Rosemont who suffered flooding in 2009 and 2011 could receive compensation from the City of Montreal if the court gives its approval to an out-of-court agreement that has just been concluded. Following the filing of a class action more than ten years ago, the City reserved the sum of $4 million to settle the file.
On July 11 and 26, 2009, residents of Rosemont whose home was located in the quadrilateral formed by rue De Bordeaux, 1D Avenue, Saint-Zotique and Bélanger suffered water infiltration. Others have had sewer backups.
Following this episode, a class action was brought against the City by the Flooded Citizens Committee of Rosemont and its representative, Eugène Robitaille. The Superior Court authorized the class action in February 2011. As new floods occurred in the same sector two years later, on July 18 and August 21, 2011, these events were added to the initial action.
The trial was to begin in November, but an out-of-court settlement was finally reached between the parties. Last Wednesday, the executive committee of the City of Montreal approved this draft agreement which provides for a maximum sum of $4 million to settle the indemnities.
The agreement provides compensation of $1,000 to $3,000 per event for moral damages, as well as a lump sum of $1,500 for property damage in the case of residences flooded twice during the same year. Flooded residents who believe that the damage suffered is greater will have to demonstrate this with the help of supporting documents. Interest will be added to these amounts. The agreement also includes an amount of $100,000 to allow residents to improve their plumbing system.
Eugène Robitaille, who is behind the class action, suffered repeated flooding despite the backwater valve he had installed in his residence. He estimated the damage suffered in 2009 and 2011 at $114,447. Under the draft agreement, Mr. Robitaille could receive compensation totaling $55,673, indicates the summary of the agreement made public by the City.
“Normal” rains
“Our claim is that there was a problem with the sewers in that sector because there have been up to four floods in two years. There are people who have been flooded once, but others four times, like Mr. Robitaille,” explains Ms.e Marie-Anaïs Sauvé who represents the Flooded Citizens Committee of Rosemont.
The City wanted to base its defense on the presence or absence of backwater valves in the residences, but the Court of Appeal ultimately refused this defence.
However, the draft agreement will have to obtain court approval, recalls Ms.e Safe. For the moment, it is not known how many residents could be compensated, but according to the lawyer, flooded people from 127 addresses have come forward in this file.
Could this draft agreement have an impact on other flood-related remedies? Not necessarily, retorts Me Safe. In the case of the Rosemont floods, rainfall experts had shown that the floods were not attributable to exceptional rains, she said. “It’s case by case. I don’t think we can say that this agreement opens the door to anything else. We had a situation that was very special, in a well-defined quadrilateral, with four floods in two years with completely normal rains. »
After these repeated floods, however, the City carried out repair work in its underground network. It has also created vegetated strips along the sidewalks in this sector to collect rainwater and relieve the sewer network. In the agreement, the City also undertakes to continue its actions in this direction. The lawyer indicates that to her knowledge, no other flooding has occurred since in this quadrangle.