A local family appeared before Estevan city council last month to discuss the recent expansion of the Estevan Police Service (EPS) building, and how it has affected their home.
Joel and Leah Moriarty, who reside in the house east of the police station, said they have lived there for 10 years. When construction started on the police building in the spring of 2020, they were told by the contractor, the site manager and the police administration of the day that if there were any problems, to let them know.
Leah Moriarty outlined to council the challenges they have encountered with their fence, Styrofoam and other debris left on their property, scaffolding and lighting, among others.
When it comes to the fence, she said a hole was dug for the basement, but the actual basement is about one-third the size of that hole, and on the side closest to the police station. The hole was so close to the Moriarty’s property that one could see fence posts.
Eventually the fence toppled over, and while it was rebuilt, she said it fell over again.
The west side of their house, where they have their fire pit, barbecue, lawn furniture and children’s toys, were covered in concrete. To address this, the contractor sent someone over to clean it, but she said you could see where it was wiped, and it remained until someone from the city cleaned it.
Since there was little room between the exterior of the new police station and the Moriarty’s fence, she said the scaffolding barely fit. At one point, the scaffolding blew over in strong winds.
And Styrofoam was everywhere on their property. During the process, she said the family would have to pick up debris from their yard. At the end of the winter, when the snow was melting, the Styrofoam was exposed.
When the police station’s roof was added, it created what she said was one of the biggest safety issues. Pieces of metal – scrap, screws and tin – were in their yard and on their concrete.
“This is where our kids play,” she said. “We couldn’t send our dog out. We had to go out with our kids because it was a safety issue.”
Her husband used his broom or a magnet he ran along the concrete to pick up debris.
She also voiced frustration with three LED lights on the side of the building that are so bright that she said they have to add tint to their windows to sleep at night.
“When you sit around the fire, you pretty much have to wear sunglasses because it’s so bright,” she said.
Mayor Roy Ludwig suggested placing shades on the LED lights so the light goes straight down, rather than into the Moriarty’s home.
Leah Moriarty said she reached out to former Police Chief Paul Ladouceur on numerous occasions with her concerns. Early on, measures were taken. Another time, she didn’t hear back from him, but the needed work was completed. But late in his tenure, she didn’t hear back from him.
She did say that some of the city employees have taken care of quite a few concerns already, but there are some they can’t look after.
“There’s always something that comes into play with the building beside us,” said Moriarty.
When they were shown the plans at the outset, she said they didn’t realize how big it was until it was completed. And when they talk to people around town, or when they have people over, they want to talk about the building.
“We are caught between two commercial buildings, and now you can barely see our house, until you drive by, because we are set further back from the two,” said Leah.
Nothing was wrong with their property before the police expansion began, and she found it disheartening they had to appear before council to remedy the situation.
In one of the meetings, she said she was asked about adequate compensation.
She suggested the city could purchase the property, or giving them a property tax reduction for the next couple of years.
Councillors Shelly Veroba and Lindsay Clark addressed the couple. Clark apologized to them.
“I understand the length of time and what you’ve gone through in this time. It takes over your life, because all of a sudden, there’s something going on. Certainly taking what you said today into consideration, I’m sure we’ll have some discussion, and hopefully we’ll have something right here.”
Veroba said after further discussion, they might have to talk with the couple to find out what else is needed.
“I know we got some things here. It seemed like most of it has been done to your satisfaction, but I think there’s still a few things that need to be rectified,” said Veroba.
Moriarty said once they contacted Ludwig and city manager Jeff Ward, the situation has been better.
“It’s been a long year, and we never expected that this would happen, and now it’s just greater than what we ever thought it would be. Now we wanted you to hear it from us and how it affected us and our kids, and on a greater scale.”
