Backyards have slid down into Bear Creek as groundwater and erosion causes the hill to collapse (photo by Liam Verster)

By Liam Verster

Wedgewood Property Issues

Wedgewood Homeowners continue to seek support from sliding slope

May 13, 2020 | 1:36 PM

The Wedgewood Hamlet Homeowners Association (WHHA) are continuing their call for support from the County of Grande Prairie, as excessive groundwater and erosion from Bear Creek puts three properties at risk of sliding down the hill.

At Monday’s County Council Meeting, the WHHA made a presentation, asking for support in either the form of a financial compensation package to help the affected residents relocate, or for remediation work to be done so the properties would no longer be at risk and the residents could stay. The latter was the preferred choice of the association.

A shed dangles precariously over the edge where the ground has fallen away (photo by Liam Verster)

However, the County didn’t come to any concrete conclusion, deciding instead to direct staff to look into the costs associated with the request, as well as the County’s legal obligation in the matter, as this issue is happening on private property, and Bear Creek is the responsibility of the Province.

Brent North, Chair of the WHHA, says some members of the Association have tried to go through their MLAs and the higher levels of Government, but the Association as a whole has been trying to get support from the County since 2012, and North says they would like to work together with them to find a solution.

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“The approach we wanted to take was one of solutions in working with Council, in providing those solutions for the homeowners, or some direction from them on how best to reach some Provincial assistance as well.”

He points to work the City has done in the past with the Bear Creek Corridor Study, and toeing up the creek along certain sections to prevent erosion and help protect residential and business properties.

North says he hopes the County Council sees that it’s not just an issue affecting those three homeowners and their private property, but also the potential to detrimental damage it could cause to others all along the Bear Creek corridor.

“Those lots were the most at danger, because they should never have been built on because of the groundwater volume. But that groundwater is everywhere in Wedgewood and into the creek, and there’s slumping in other areas. I feel that those houses are almost the canary in the (coal) mine, and if the County doesn’t do something about the groundwater in the Wedgewood area, there’s going to be a much larger problem heading their way.”

The slide continues down past several yards (photo by Liam Verster)

While the County investigates this situation, North is also considering involving the provincial ombudsman in the matter, to investigate the case and help mediate a solution between the two groups.

The WHHA asked for the County to come back with a solution of some sort by June 29, 2020, and North says he hopes to hear some feasible solutions come back quickly, so work can begin and those properties, or what’s left of them, can be saved.

A sign mounted in trees below the yards where the sloping leads to Bear Creek (photo by Liam Verster)