CITY HALL – During Wednesday’s (May 13) city council meeting, the powers that be agreed to extend the moratorium on building permit fee applications for those rebuilding from the flood.

Council revisited the issue and a motion was moved by Mayor Jim Watson and seconded by Coun. Theresa Kavanagh. The motion was needed because the original motion to waive permit applications expired on Nov. 27, 2019. The motion admitted the city is still receiving claims from 2019 flood impacted properties.

“There’s a little bit of history here,” Coun. Eli El-Chantiry told West Carleton Online yesterday (May 14). “When the tornado hit, we waived application fees. Especially for those re-building on the same footprint. It was great news. During the flood we did the same thing, but we put a date on it.”

El-Chantiry said flood victims have faced insurance delays, provincial support delays and now COVID-19 delays.

“It’s not their fault,” El-Chantiry said.

El-Chantiry said the motion was originally his but he declared a conflict of interest. El-Chantiry says he owns property in Constance Bay that was flood damaged. Because that property is not his primary residence, he would not qualify for any of the temporary government relief programs available, but removed himself from the process and had the mayor bring it to the council table.

“That’s good news for West Carleton residents,” El-Chantiry said. “It’s for tornado and flood victims and there are still several going through the recovery process.”

The city’s chief building official is now authorized to suspend application fees with respect to demolition permits and building applications directly related to the 2019 flood event.