LAKE GEORGE, N.S. — A Lake George, Yarmouth County, resident who is battling bureaucracy to improve the barely passable dirt road he lives on has been ramping up his efforts.
Oskars Taurins has published a video on Youtube, condemning government employees, including the transportation minister; along with also highlighting the lack of attention to the rutted, pothole-filled road.
Taurins moved to Ontario from Latvia close to a dozen years ago. Nearly a decade later his family moved to Yarmouth County in search of a quieter lifestyle. He says he pretty much started his fight with Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal the day he bought his property.
“We got more troubles than we expected,” he says. "It’s not possible to even call this a road. We’re to the point where kids are scared to step onto the school bus.” Accidents are a concern.
Taurins showed his friends in Latvia a picture of the road at its worse.
“They said that back in 1960 when they were driving farm trucks to a pig farm, even then the road was better than we have here in 2021.”
He says the road is in bad shape for half of the year and any work doesn't provide any long-term fixes.
“When a grader was sent, the operator just pushed the dirt, no stones. They did not even put one shovel of gravel,” says Taurins.
Frustrated with the lack of help provided by the transportation department, he called the Yarmouth County RCMP detachment several weeks ago about the condition of the road when he says his family was unable to get in or out for groceries. He says officers expressed shock about the condition of the road.
After his vehicles sustained significant damage from the rough road conditions: rear coil springs, (costing $716 pair), car level sensors ($690 pair), and part of the car exhaust system ($617), all amounting to $2,023, plus labour ($430), for a total of $2,453; Taurins decided to file a lawsuit through Small Claims Court against the Ministry of Transportation for repair reparation.
He says that after three or four days he received a phone call from a representative who he says asked him, “If he was crazy or thought he was God.”
He says they also asked him, “Who gave you the right to sue us? Go back to Small Claims Court and take the application out.”
“I was with open mouth, I did not even know what to say,” said Taurins.
He responded that until his car was fixed, he was not going to cancel his application.
It is not an unusual occurrence for people living on gravel roads to be displeased and frustrated with their condition, particularly at this time of the year and early spring when roads are in bad condition, making traveling difficult.
And there are gravel roads that are flagged as problematic by residents year after year.
Steve Warburton, spokesperson for the Transportation and Infrastructure department, says staff have heard the concerns of residents regarding the condition of Lake George Road and they are committed to repairing the road in the spring.
“In the past two years, more than $440,000 has been spent on Lake George Road. The funding is from the department’s Capital Gravel Program and covered lengths of 3 kilometres and 1.2 kilometres. The first section was completed in December 2019 and the next section was done in September 2020,” he says.
“Once the frost is out of the ground, general maintenance funding is already in place for the work. The gear will come out then to do grading,” he added.
Taurins hopes that’s the case.
“I really hope that someday they do something with that road. Years ago, they kept telling us that road will be fixed, the road will be fixed.”
Regarding his lawsuit, Taurins received a response from Robert Miller, senior claims officer for Insurance and Risk Management, Service Nova Scotia and Internal Services.
“As discussed the province cannot be taken to Small Claims Court. You may wish to go to the justice centre and speak to them, I expect they will refund your court filing fees," wrote Miller.
He instructed Taurins to send any documents he may have with regards to his claim. His claim for damages will be reviewed and responded to.
“In light of the fact that the province cannot be taken to Small Claims Court, we have an appeal process in place that is available to you in the event that you are not in agreement to our response to your claim,” added Miller.
Taurins continues to wait and holds hope for repair reparation and road improvements.
“Even small steps ahead sometimes make life much better,” he says.
