Why do we pay taxes and where does that money go?
We have had water issues on our property. We thought it was just because of snow melt and rain and we don’t use the driveway in the winter.
We dug a ditch to the road to drain the water into the culvert and ditch in front of our property. Wrong. The ditch has not been worked on in 30 years and the culvert is too high to be of any use.
We then hired a backhoe to dig across the driveway to get rid of the water and then into the ditch.
When we disturbed the water and slime on top, it smelled like septic runoff.
We went to the Regional District of North Okanagan and were told that ditching and culverts are a homeowner’s responsibility. Why would that be when it is not our property?
We then went to the Ministry of Transportation and it advised that it does not do culverts but it is responsible for ditching.
However, it depends on when its contractor is in the area, which could be next week or next year. Since when does the employee dictate to the employer?
Our next stop was B.C. Hydro as that driveway is the only access it has to the easement in our back field. They came out the same day, looked at the mess and gave us a culvert. Thank you Hydro.
Interior Health was our next stop. With half-an-hour, they were there to take a sample.
The results came back that there was coliform and e.coli present.
We advised the health officer that this is not from our septic field as we have an alarm on our tank that lets us know if our septic pump is not working as the sewage would come in our basement.
According to Interior Health, the green sludge could be anything. When my gumboots smell like sewage and the area smells like sewage, perhaps they can do their job to help resolve the problem.
Shame on RDNO, the Ministry of Transportation and most of all, Interior Health. It looks like we live in a third world country where septic flow is OK.
I ask again, why do we pay taxes?
M. Cucheran
Vernon
