Not our pothole, says Clarke’s Beach mayor

By Olivia Bradbury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Potholes were prominent on the agenda at Clarke’s Beach council earlier this month.

Council also addressed a resident’s letter asking for the Town to pay for damages to her car which were sustained after hitting a pothole in The Motion.

The resident provided an estimate for the cost of repairs not covered by insurance.

However, council won’t be paying the charges, it was decided.

“Unfortunately, it is what our insurances are for,” said Mayor Danielle Bussey.

Some councillors speculated, due to the extent of damage to the vehicle, that the resident may have been driving over the speed limit.

Bussey noted that The Motion, the area where the resident hit the pothole, is shared with the neighbouring town of Makinsons. Bussey added that if the pothole was where she believed it to be, it falls within Makinsons’ borders, not those of Clarke’s Beach. The mayor said town staff have been proactive about filling potholes, and Clarke’s Beach’s side of The Motion is in fairly good condition.

Later in the meeting, council discussed damage caused by the Town’s snow-clearing equipment this past winter. It is compiling a list of residents who claim to have had damage done to their properties. Members of council and staff, as well as a contractor, will visit the properties to assess the claims.

Bussey said Town workers are repairing damaged sods, and that sometimes garbage boxes are hit because they are too close to the road, which homeowners know.

Some residents have also raised damage to their fences, while approximately 100 feet of guardrail was also knocked down.

“We’ve got video surveillance,’ Bussey said. “Everyone has a doorbell camera. So we can look at some of the stuff that happened. Some of it is not because the property was too close to the road.”