“A Monty Python sketch”

City charges residents for non-installed address posts 

 

Laurent Robillard-Cardinal

Last year Gatineau contracted out the installation of address-number posts along rural roads and charged affected taxpayers for this safety measure. However, some residents who have paid their bills are still waiting for their posts.

A part of Gatineau’s fire safety cover plan, the posts will clearly identify addresses in rural areas, something useful for emergency services and for public works. To cover the operation, the city tacked on an extra fee of $49.50 to affected residents’ tax bills.

 

Measures to improve safety are generally welcome, but this initiative took a few rural residents by surprise. “One day I woke up and I had a new address post. I was surprised. I’ve been living here since 1978 and now, after 40 years, I have an [address] post. I was happy because I said finally they can find me,” laughed Raymond Huneault, owner of the isolated Vignoble du Clos Baillie. “However, a few weeks later I received a letter in the mail indicating that the city was billing me! Now that was good!”

 

Besides the address post, Mr Huneault has a commercial sign, approved by the city. “I needed a permit for the sign and I needed to pay for it. People now seem to know where I am. Therefore, it [the new address post] seems unnecessary,” he said. “What I don’t understand is that all the surrounding municipalities already have these ID posts, and for some time now, but their tax-payers were not charged. I don’t mind paying 40 dollars for my safety, but this should have been done a dozen years ago,” added Huneault.

 

When the operation began and employees responsible for installing address posts started scouting the area, it aroused suspicion along Mountain Road. “I saw a guy pull up beside our four-log cedar fence on the wrong side of the road, which was a little odd. He was in the eastbound lane, but heading west. He never came in; he just looked at my driveway. It was a nameless burgundy truck and was not identified with a Gatineau logo,” said a Mountain Road beef farmer.

 

Curious, the farmer called the city and was told the municipality needed to update all the rural addresses for emergency services. “That makes sense, but you might want to tell people in advance,” added the farmer, who’s still waiting for his address post. “After calling, a letter arrived telling me I need these (address) numbers and that I would be charged for this. But I still don’t have my numbers,” added the rural resident.

 

The city explained the delay, “The installation of address posts had to be stopped by the end of 2014 due to cold weather and the ground freezing,” a city spokesperson told the Bulletin. The farmer is surprised that the city charged him for the installation but has so far not delivered the service. “It’s ironic because a lady came along on an icy night this winter and (in an accident) took out the steel pipe that holds my mailbox. When the police came they asked the address. It’s 1299, but you would never know that because she just took out my mailbox, and I don’t have the number because the city hasn’t delivered them. I felt like I was in a Monty Python sketch,” laughed the farmer.