Belleville City Council will be asked to join several other local municipalities in requesting the International Joint Commission cancel its current water level management plan.
 
A media release from City Hall said council will receive a resolution at its meeting next Tuesday recommending action be taken to revoke Plan 2014, and establish a plan that better protects the interests of municipalities, emergency responders and shoreline ecosystems.
 
Belleville would align itself with councils in Prince Edward County, Quinte West and Brighton, who have already passed similar motions.

“The economic ramifications and infrastructure damage cannot be left unaddressed. If approved at this Tuesday’s Council meeting the City of Belleville will ask that the Canadian representatives of the International Joint Commission and the Federal Government immediately suspend Plan 2014" explained Mayor Mitch Panciuk. “We will ask the Federal and Provincial Governments to conduct a formal investigation into the flooding events of 2017 and 2019 in the impacted communities along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. The Provincial Government needs to review and increase the funding provided to municipalities ensuring the amounts commensurate with the anticipated increases in flooding, erosion and damages.”

This year  Bay of Quinte flood water levels exceeded levels experienced along the Belleville shoreline in 2017 which were deemed at a 100-year high.

The negative impact and ramifications on businesses and homeowners, twice within a three-year span, have local residents and city officials questioning the effectiveness of Plan 2014, which influences the level of Lake Ontario by releasing water outflows through the Moses Saunders Dam.

In addition to individual residents and businesses, the impact has extended to municipalities which have incurred the expense of providing significant staffing and financial resources in flood mitigation, flood protections and emergency response.

The resolution is asking that the Canadian Provincial and Federal governments be requested to strike a committee to review mitigation and safety plans for the communities fronting the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, and that Belleville be invited to participate. 

The Belleville City Council meeting will begin at 4 p.m. next Tuesday at City Hall.