Summerside councillors spar over value of filling in residential ditches

A Summerside city councillor is speaking out about the amount of money from the city's budget being used to fill in open ditches in the city.

"When there's a half a million dollars going towards ditch infill and we're looking for a police officer, or we need a police car, or we need some fire services … there's lots of needs in Summerside," said Coun. Barb Ramsay. 

A city official confirmed that on average, $500,000 per year has been spent on ditch infill in Summerside since 1999, for a total of $15.7 million. Summerside's entire 2020-2021 budget, passed last March, was $53 million.

I try to spread everything out and I try to make it equal, because I am just not a councillor for my ward. I'm a councillor for the whole city of Summerside.— Coun. Barb Ramsay 

"I want the residents of Summerside to know that that amount of money is being spent, and it's their money," said Ramsay, who raised the issue at a meeting of Summerside's city council Tuesday night.  

"There are so many ditches to be filled in the Summerside area that they will not be completed in 50 years,"  she said. 

"If we spend half a million dollars for the next 50 years, our children and their children will be paying a lot of money for just aesthetic ditch infill." 

More than aesthetic: MacDougall

Summerside Coun. Bruce MacDougall said the city made a commitment to ditch infilling as part of amalgamation in 1995, and every subsequent council has voted to continue the work.

People in communities such as Wilmot and St. Eleanors ended up paying more in taxes after amalgamation, and filled-in ditches were part of a promise to provide equal services.

MacDougall said ditches can be a concern to some households, especially those occupied by older people. 

"They have problems cutting their grass," he said. "There are also water issues."

In past years, Summerside residents lobbying for ditches near them to be filled in have cited water pooling in them after storms. The infill work is often done in conjunction with projects to add stormwater drainage mains. 

However, when Charlottetown councillors were debating whether to end their city's infill program in 2019, the public works manager said open ditches can hold more storm runoff than filled ones, help recharge the groundwater and require less maintenance.

"There are councillors in wards that do have ditches, and so, you know, they want to give those folks … what they feel they deserve. And I get that," said Ramsay. "But I'm also very fair as a councillor and I try to spread everything out and I try to make it equal, because I am just not a councillor for my ward. I'm a councillor for the whole city of Summerside."

Ramsay said that when she sees a ditch being filled in, "it actually breaks my heart a little bit." 

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