Cow Bay Road storm sewer upgrade could cost $6.3M

A long-awaited stormsewer upgrade that would fix a flooding problem in Eastern Passage could cost nearly $2 million higher than first expected.

Last September, city officialsbudgeted $4.4 million for a deep storm sewer for Cow Bay Road. That was raised to $4.8 million when a contingency was added.

But the winning bid by Dexter Construction is $6.3 million.

Now its up to the audit and finance standing committee to make a recommendation on what happens next.

Jim MacDonald, who owns a home on Cow Bay Road, says its finally time to get the job done, even if the municipality has to pay more.

He says HRM only has itself to blame for not charging developers for sewer upgrades as new homes were built.

It needs to be done. It shouldve been done. And every year that you wait a little bit longer, the price goes up about 10 per cent, MacDonald told CBC News.

MacDonalds home has flooded three times since 2006. The last flood in 2011 forced him to tear up walls and replace some electrical wiring and flooring.

That year, he bought a new sump pump, which pumps water out of his house and through a pipe to a storm drain outside.

He says the flooding problems are so bad that the value of his property dropped by $50,000. He also says some people in the neighbourhood are unable to get backwater flood insurance.

Youll find most of the people who live along here either have a very high insurance rate for flooding or they cant get it at all, he said.

MacDonald says the municipality asked the homeowners to pay about $15,000 over 20 years to help cover the costs of a new storm sewer, but they refused.

The current plan calls for taxpayers to pick up the whole tab. Two-thirds would be paid by the municipality, while Halifax Water would cover the remaining one-third.

The audit and finance standing committee will vote on a staff recommendation to push the matter to regional council and dip into an operating fund for the extra money.

Staff say the newer estimate is higher because the original budget didnt consider costs related to acidic rock and other factors.

• Read the staff report and recommendation

Regardless, MacDonald hopes the project moves ahead and the problems in his neighbourhood are fixed.