Long road to recovery

Times Reporter    

 

Approximately six years ago Mike and Barb Froese saw an ad in the paper about a property to buy in Nightingale. They fell in love. The land had a pond, was big and the trailer looked great. They thought it was a great opportunity to live not too far out of town. Since then the dream property has become sort of a nightmare. 

“I say to everybody, what drew us here is what’s killing us, and it’s the water,” said Barb. 

Approximately four years ago there had been a minor flooding incident due to a mishap. The next summer was when many of the roads, culverts and properties in Wheatland County flooded, including the Froese property, and it has been nothing but problems since.

“When you look out your window and you see the ducks swimming by it’s really serious,” said Barb.

“The county helped us out last time by giving us the materials to build this berm, that is going to prevent any water from coming in like that again,” said Mike. 

There is no drainage for the slough near their property, and so with nowhere to go, it went into the Froese’s yard and home. The trailer was surrounded by water, and the septic system was compromised. It was nearly five months before the water receded enough that the couple could leave the house without rubber boots.

The trailer has shifted since the flood three years ago, the sewer lines are no longer functioning properly, and an above-ground septic system will likely be needed.

“The water level doesn’t seem to go down each year either,” said Barb. 

Since the initial flood a few years ago it has rained more, there has been more snowmelt, and the land is not getting the opportunity to dry like it once did. If the Froese’s were to dig a foot down into the dirt, it would easily fill with water. Even walking across the yard the bottoms of shoes get wet from the water that is barely below the surface.

“We’re at the point that we don’t know what to do any more. We have options, we’re trying to collect quotes for these options but basically the three things that we have to do are raise the trailer, redo the sewer lines, and find some new way of dealing with the septic,” said Mike. 

There’s a possibility that a class from the University of Alberta (UofA) will come to do soil samples of the area and a site analysis and figure out what will work best for a possible solution for the Froese’s. If the couple decide to go the way that is suggested by UofA, then all of the labour would be free, they would only have to pay for materials. 

No one can accurately predict whether or not the water will keep rising and no one knows what will happen in 10 years, but the Froeses are hoping to get someone who has enough knowledge to make an educated guess about a solution.  

“It has to be a solution that is going to work and last. We don’t want this to happen in another two years or another 10 years,” said Barb. 

Neighbours have seen and helped where they can with the Froeses’ struggle. On July 5 they are hoping to gather people together to help raise funds to help the family. 

“These are two great, hard-working people. They are always willing to help others out, but we feel they really need a helping hand. They would never ask for help themselves, and we know that their finances are such that they would likely have to refinance their mortgage in order to pay for the work that needs to be done. We just want to help in any way we can,” said Carrie Inman, coordinator of the fundraiser and family friend. 

“When she (Carrie) said she wanted to talk to us, I had no idea that was what she was going to say. I think we have come to terms with how we are feeling now, but we didn’t want to feel like it was a pity party,” said Barb.

“We are very grateful, and very humbled and appreciative,” said Mike.

Anything raised will go into a bank account and will go towards fixing the problems on the property. Mike said it really comes down to the money. They want to stay and will do what they can, but if there is not enough money to do everything that needs to be done properly, then they will look at other options.

“We’re going to do everything we can to stay here,” said Mike. 

The fundraiser will take place from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Nightingale Community Hall. There will be a silent auction, a BBQ and much more. Everyone is welcome to attend the event and show their support.