High River flood debt forces senior back to work
Small business flood claims backlogged with qualified DRP staff scarce, says High River official
A High River senior says he has been forced back to work in order to pay off a $120,000 debt from damage caused by the 2013 floods.
At age 78, Mac Arbuthnot never thought he'd be facing so much debt and working three days a week at the local grocery store to try and pay it off. The bed and breakfast he owns was damaged in the floods and required extensive renovations.
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More than a year later, he says they are sick of waiting for officials with the province's Disaster Recovery Program to work through their claim, but that they don't have a lot of options.
"At my wife and I's age, it will probably be very difficult to get a $120,000 loan when we may not ever live to pay it off," Arbuthnot said. "It's very frustrating and very, very mentally tiring working with the DRP."
The bed and breakfast needed a new foundation, an interior renovation and the building had to be lifted.
In all, the cost of repairs came to $150,000. Since filing his claim, Arbuthnot has received just $34,000 from the DRP.
Hard to move on
Just this week, Arbuthnot says he received a letter from the DRP stating that any work done to mitigate against future floods would not be paid for by the program.
In the letter, the province says its structural team extensively reviewed the file and found that the floor joists — which were replaced — had appeared to be intact and structurally sound.
But the contractor who performed the repairs on the bed and breakfast says there's no way officials can say that.
"The existing concrete foundation and wood joists could not be seen from the original assessor," said Jason Carter. "They could not see until we did the clean up that the foundation was damaged. No one ever came back, even after we sent in pictures. For them to say they did an extensive review is disrespectful to their role."
Arbuthnot says he realizes the DRP won't reimburse him for everything but that it has been difficult to move ahead without getting a clear answer to his claims.
He says he either has to wait until a manager from Edmonton comes down to High River or try to get through to someone over the phone.
"You're always waiting on a phone call and when you phone you get a different person every time," he said. "So you're like starting over again."
Backlog of small business claims
The Town of High River's business renewal officer, Angela Groeneveld, says there hasn't been dedicated staff in High River to resolve small business claims.
"The problem was the team that was on the ground did not have proper authority so that's what's backlogged us for so long," she said. "If we would have had [the manager] down here all along, full time, we would have got through this way faster."
Groeneveld says she has been told a DRP manager will be coming down to High River three times a week to help ease the backlog and that more staff are being hired
A spokesperson with the DRP says they won't comment on specific claims but that there are seven DRP staff stationed in High River — and any one of them can answer questions on residential and small business claims.
As well, a manager from Edmonton has been coming down periodically to meet with small business owners in person.
Officials are now in the process of hiring a couple of small business coordinators for southern Alberta.
Arbuthnot says he'll be appealing his claim as soon as he can.