The Township of Perth East looks after both Municipal Drains and the Tile Loan Program.
| Municipal Drains |
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Physically, a municipal drain is simply a drainage system. Most municipal drainage systems were constructed to improve the drainage of agricultural land. However, they also remove excess water collected by any other properties in rural areas. Municipal drains are created under the authority of the Drainage Act.
| New Drain |
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Landowners in an area requiring drainage can sign a Petition for Drainage, which will set in motion a project to create a new municipal drain. This falls under Section 4 of the Drainage Act.
To petition a new drain, please fill out the Section 4 Form on the Government of Ontario's website, print out and bring to the Perth East Municipal Office.
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| Repair and Improvement |
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If an existing drain requires significant repair and as a result the repair includes changing the original drain's infrastructure in a way that is different from the original engineered plans, an application should be filed under Section 78 - Repair & Improvement. Examples of this include widening, lengthening, deepening a drain, etc.
To have a drain repaired and improved, please fill out the Township's Section 78 Form, print out and bring to the Perth East Municipal Office.
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| Maintenance and Repair |
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The most common application is one that falls under Section 74 of the Drainage Act, which is your basic Maintenance & Repair work. This usually includes work such as clean outs, removal of beavers/dams, repairing/replacing tile and generally repairing the existing drain in a way that does not detract from the drain's original construction.
To have a drain maintained and repaired, please fill out the Township's Section 74 Form, print out and bring to the Perth East Municipal Office.
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| Do's and Don'ts of Drains |
Do:
Don't:
- Obstruct access. Along every municipal drain is an unregistered work space that the municipality has the right to use to maintain or repair the drain. Please keep this work space accessible.
- Store materials (ie. brush or other floatable material) near the drain. During storm events and spring runoff this material may block the drain.
- Perform the work yourself. Notify the Clerk's Department to arrange for maintenance on a municipal drain.
- Direct septic system waste, milk house waste, barnyards and manure storage runoff or other pollutants directly to these drains.
View OMAFRA Drainage Webpage
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| Tile Loan Program |
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Installing tile drainage is a very common land improvement practice among farmers in Ontario. Corrugated plastic tubing, clay and concrete drain tile are installed beneath the surface of agricultural land to drain excess water from the crop root zone. The benefits of tile drainage for crop productivity, farm efficiency and even for reducing environmental impacts have been studied and are generally well known to farmers.
In Ontario, the Tile Loan Program, authorized by the Tile Drainage Act provides loans to agricultural property owners to help them finance these tile drainage projects.
| About the Township's Tile Loan Program |
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Landowners in Perth East planning to install a tile drainage system on their agricultural land are eligible for a tile loan under this program.
- All tile loans have 10-year terms, and repayments are made annually with your property tax instalments.
- Landowners are eligible for a loan of up to 75% of the value of the tile drainage work, up to $50,000
- The provincial government sets the program interest rate .This rate is fixed for the full term of the loan, regardless of changes in market interest rates. The interest rate is calculated annually. The current interest rate is 6%.
The application process is quite simple. Tile Loan Information Sheet and the Tile Loan Application, are available online (or at the Municipal Office), and must be submitted to Perth East Council. Once Council approves the application, the owner arranges to have the work completed by a licensed tile drainage contractor (for more information see the OMAFRA Factsheet Agricultural Drainage Licensing. The Township will inspect the work.
The Township collects the loan repayments from the owner and remits them to OMAFRA. Defaulted payments are rare but are treated in the same manner as unpaid taxes. The loan can be repaid in full at any time. Contact (519) 595-2800 ext. 247 to find out the amount still owing at the time of your proposed payout date.
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| Is your farm tiled? |
| You can visit the Agricultural Information Atlas site. Once past the agreement of terms, you will be able to zoom to your property and see the random and systematic tile that exists. Please note that this map is not provided by the Township of Perth East, so if you have any questions about the map or that website, please contact OMAFRA. |
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