By: Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Essex Free Press
Residents will no longer have to get two quotes to tap into the Town of Essex Flooding Subsidy Program, Council voted at the February 2 meeting.
Administration will now amend By-Law No. 2366, being the Subsidy Program By-Law, to incorporate that change.
Mayor Sherry Bondy loved the idea of removing the red tape from the subsidy program. She hopes the information about the Town subsidy program is routinely shared with residents.
This recommendation came as a result of the direction Essex Council gave to Town Administration to provide a debriefing report on the flooding that occurred in Harrow and Colchester on September 24, 2025. Staff was also directed to provide a detailed overview of the municipal drains bounded by County Road 50, from Erie Road to County Road 41, including the number of drains, their capacity, and the legislative ability of Council to initiate drainage works.
That storm, Kevin Girard, Director of Infrastructure Services, explained, produced around 190mm (or seven-and-a-half inches) of rain over a 24-hour period. It had “extreme hourly intensities that far exceeded the design capacity of the drainage and sanitary system.
“While infrastructure generally performed as designed, the volume of rain caused widespread surcharging, localized road and basement flooding, and significant strain on drainage systems,” he added.
Staff responded quickly to mobilize inspections, clear blockages, monitor pump stations, and to resident service calls. There were 25 calls to the Town’s Report a Problem service. All calls were followed up on and subsidy options offered, where applicable, the Report to Council notes.
Importantly, no sanitary bypasses or treatment overflows were released into the environment, he said.
While Council does have authority under the Drainage Act to initiate improvements to municipal drains where they exist, Girard noted the scale of upgrades required to address storms of this magnitude would be cost-prohibitive for the residents of the drain and subject to appeal under the Drainage Act. This has been a question Council has asked in the past.
Resident-initiated projects are the most practical approach.
Girard said Town staff reviewed Essex’s flooding subsidy program, which has a low uptake. Since 2019, the Town has paid out approximately $32,754 in subsidies, the report highlights. The majority of which have been backwater valves at 60%, followed by sump pump installation at 33%.
Based on resident and Council feedback, Girard suggested getting multiple quotes could be a barrier for some to access available subsidies. Administration therefore recommended the removal of the two-quote requirement to improve accessibility and participation.
The report – and the continued need for flood resilience – reinforced the need for continued flood mitigation planning, resident education, and long-term servicing strategies, all of which Girard said can be addressed in creating a Master Servicing Plan. Council also passed funding for such a project that evening.
The data is clear the aforementioned rainfall was extraordinary and exceeded design for the system, Deputy Mayor Rob Shepley said.
“I also appreciate the honesty of what we can expect from our system,” Shepley said. He supported removing the two-quote requirement for the subsidy program.
He asked if it would be possible for the municipality to perhaps partner with residents to make improvements to a municipal drain out that way even every five-years. Perhaps the province could also help with that.
Partnering with residents isn’t the difficult part, Girard noted. To trigger improvements, it only takes one person on the drain. To date, the Town has received very few. What the Town has seen is proposed development and growth in the area that would shed water into those drains and improve them.
“Growth and development [are] going to be [what] is going to help bring in partnership with the area and existing residents – improvements to the drainage system,” Girard said.
When it comes to assuming and improving beach roads, that’s always been a difficult discussion. Administration has always taken the stance if someone wanted to proceed with something like that, the Town would want the improvement to occur as part of the storm system and municipal drainage works.
In answering Councillor Rodney Hammond’s question on what remedies improve the drainage issues, Girard noted each area would need to be evaluated separately for what the solution would be. There’s a variety of solutions that could exist. What a Master Servicing Study will do is look at an area and evaluate individual systems through extensive modeling to come up with potential solutions.
Part of the report Councillor Jason Matyi found disappointing was learning that after the August 2023 storm, only $90,000 was paid out to 22 applicants through the Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians program.
“For the amount of damage and destruction that was done out there, that seems like a [really] low amount,” he said. He hoped that the need to revise the program could be brought to the attention of the upper levels of government.
To mitigate flooding, the Town has taken a strong stance to curb inflow and infiltration – the entering of stormwater into the sanitary system. In 2025 and 2026, Council approved $105,000 to complete fog testing and repair any areas in need, Girard noted.
Mayor Bondy added she still has concerns about developing lands south of County Road 50. The area is low-lying.
“We can’t escape the fact that if you go from Harrow to the lake – south – there’s 10-meters of elevation difference.” She would like to have future talks with the Essex Region Conservation Authority about the water flowing over the land, called sheet water.
“I don’t want to be the Mayor in 50 years where people look back and say why did you allow more homes in that area,” Bondy said. Residents can learn more about Essex’s subsidy programs at www.essex.ca/en/live/flooding.aspx