New Westminster water main break: mayor working on solutions

Little has changed for some residents affected by a massive water main break in the Royal City on Valentine’s Day.

A special meeting was held on Sunday to figure out the next steps. New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone tells 1130 NewsRadio that he heard residents’ concerns and will be speaking to his staff on Monday to come up with ways to help support those still trying to navigate the aftermath of the mess.

“Hopefully, the city can help in working with Metro Vancouver in making sure folks have better access to services, that we can expedite anything we can,” he explained.

Johnstone says not everyone at the gathering was angry, some were simply frustrated with the situation.

“There are two sets of concerns from residents. One, was the response they saw on the day of and the day after. The other, is where things are now, two weeks down the road. I’ll be talking to my staff today around what I heard at that meeting,” he said.

“I do want to find out what took place so that we can find out how we can do a better job next time. But right now, I think the biggest concern is trying to make the place more livable for folks.”

He explains that one thing that was highlighted by those in attendance was the lack of communication.

“There are multiple agencies taking part and one of our challenges is maybe a lack of communication between agencies. We have people’s insurance companies, we have strata councils, we have Metro Vancouver, we have restoration companies — there are a lot of players in this, and I’m not sure who’s been coordinating communication between everybody,” he explained.

“I think there are people who are uncertain and don’t know what’s coming in the weeks ahead.”

Despite Metro Vancouver being the lead on the file, Johnstone says the city wants to help.

“[Residents] raised issues around a retaining wall and issues around providing recreation passes because they’ve lost access to their recreational spaces in their buildings — things like that, that I think the city can easily step in to help make lives a little more comfortable in the next couple of weeks.”

One building that was affected was on the south end of Francis Way. It’s a six-storey, wood-framed residential building, and it’s first floor was immediately flooded as it was adjacent to the pipe that burst. Down the hill, a townhome was affected at the end of Jamieson Court, as well as two high-rises.

“They had their underground garages flooded, their electrical vaults and elevator shafts and amenities rooms flooded by the water. Those are the buildings where we’ve got some pretty long-term difficulty fixing,” Johnstone explained.

While he’s not sure about compensation, he says the situation is especially challenging for seniors who can’t walk up multiple flights of stairs.

“That is the unfortunate reality for a lot of folks, and a lot of people aren’t taking that walk. There are some seniors living in that building who just aren’t able to manage that walk, and they are effectively stuck at home and trying to get all their services brought to them.”

The cause of the water main break remains under investigation.