The Bath Slough Canal and adjacent walkway have been fixed after they were allegedly damaged by a business next door.
Although the original budget to fix it was $465,000, city council approved a budget of $1 million last year to fix the slough and pathway after they were told damages were more extensive than first thought to be.
The city put the contract out to tender and awarded it to North Vancouver-based Merletti Construction for about $590,000.
The work was largely completed just before Christmas with some bollards being added this week, explained Alex Merletti, vice-president of Merletti Construction.
The city is trying to recoup the costs of fixing the pathway and the slough, alleging the damage was caused by a tile company placing skids of tiles against a fence by the pathway, breaching city property and disrupting maintenance of the slough bank.
The city launched a lawsuit against the tenant, Tile Club Home Supply, and the owner of the property, a numbered company (1184190 BC Ltd.).
In its defence, the company claims, if the fence was on city property, it had “express or implied consent” from the city.
Furthermore, they claim the fence was on their own property, and therefore they claim they weren’t trespassing.
The response to the city’s lawsuit further states the “alleged loss, damage or expense was caused solely by the (city)’s own negligence … (or) the negligence of the (city) was a contributing cause.”
Named as a third parties are Driven Investment and David Wang, owner of the Tile Club.
Driven Investment sold the land to the numbered company in 2018, but it was still leasing it after the sale.
Driven Investment then subleased it to Burnaby-based Tile Club Home Supply.
Driven Investment denies liability in the case, stating in its response that fault lies with the city and city bylaws by its “negligence, fault, or breach of duty.”
Any damage was caused by the city, Driven Investment claims, which “failed to mitigate its losses by failing to take all reasonable steps to minimize or avoid such loss, damage, or expense.”
Tile Club Home Supply is located on Vickers Way, just south of Bridgeport Road near No. 5 Road, next to Bath Slough.
Got an opinion on this story or any others in Richmond? Send us a letter or email your thoughts or story tips to [email protected].
