Waters aren’t exactly rising right now in the Town of Princeton, but tempers and anxiety certainly are.
The recent release of a consultant’s report, outlining options for flood mitigation following the 2021 disaster, and the comments at a public meeting, have got the community stirred up.
“The whole town is on pins and needles,” said Mayor Spencer Coyne. “I have people literally having nervous breakdowns over it.”
Three hundred properties were destroyed when the Tulameen River breached its dikes, and many have been rebuilt.
However, the mayor added that “Princeton has a history of flooding.
“Here’s the reality of the situation and let’s be brutally honest. One hundred and sixty years ago they built a town in a flood zone, on top of a swamp, where it shouldn’t have been built.”
The options floated by True Consulting include altering critical infrastructure by raising the community’s bridges, moving sewer lift stations and relocating wells that are still in the process of being constructed following the last flood.
There is also the option of raising dikes to 4 metres, and another choice to set back dikes to make more room for the river.
Finally, there is an option of lowering service levels, which True Consulting admits would not meet standards and permitting would be difficult to obtain.
The costs of the various proposals range from $45 to $84 million.
“There’s no money,” Coyne told the Spotlight. “There’s no money so let’s get that out of the way, because right now we don’t have any money.”
In a best-case scenario, a federal program exists that could fund up to 40 per cent of the costs of remediation.
Coyne said it will be up to council, in the next two years, to chose the best route forward.
“The plans that we are looking at, we are looking at decades of work here, none of this can be done overnight.”
READ MORE: Amber Alert issued for 3-month-old Langley baby
READ MORE: Large dogs seized after Osoyoos boy killed visiting Edmonton home