Robert Fisher
Staff Reporter
KILLALOE – Roughly a month since a large section of a retaining wall on Brennans Creek in Killaloe collapsed, there appears to be little progress toward a resolution.
The wall was badly degraded and in imminent danger of collapsing in the summer when the bridge crossing the creek on Queen Street was repaired. The Gazette contacted the County of Renfrew at the time to ask if the retaining wall or any other sections of degraded infrastructure would be part of the project and we were told the county did not own that infrastructure and would only be working on the bridge.
Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards council held an in camera session to discuss the status of the wall after it collapsed. Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Tammy Gorgerat said, via email, that the township had contacted legal counsel and the closed session included advice from counsel. The retaining wall is the responsibility of the property owner(s) abutting the creek.
“Staff have been communicating with the abutting property owner, the County of Renfrew, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP), the Department of Fisheries (DFO) and Oceans Canada and the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) regarding the retaining wall matter,” Gorgerat said. “We intend on reviewing potential solutions with the property owner in the near future. The CAO declined to provide the name of the property owner, citing privacy, despite that property records are public information.
The Gazette took photos of the collapsed section of wall and much of the other infrastructure in and around the creek and asked the township if any of the other infrastructure would be evaluated as well. There appears to be erosion on one bank upstream of the bridge and some concrete dam structures in the creek upstream of the bridge appear to be degraded. “Contact has also been made to the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Environment which has jurisdiction over erosion control and the creek,” said the CAO.
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