The smell is gone and the bill will be paid.
Who pays to correct the cause of a sewage smell in the hallway of a south-end Barrie condo has been resolved.
Bud York, president of Yonge Station’s board of directors, says Pratt Homes — which built 100 Dean Ave., near Yonge Street and Madelaine Drive, nine years ago — will foot the $2,237.40 bill for vent work.
Karen Hansen, co-owner of Pratt Homes, has confirmed the reimbursement with BarrieToday.
“Bud York and I were able to connect to gather further clarity on the issue and to discuss the Yonge Station development and their unusual challenges with the vents,” she said. “Following that discussion, we felt that it was appropriate that Pratt Homes offer some assistance to the Yonge Station condominium corporation and we agreed to pay the $2,200 invoice.
“We appreciate all of the time and energy that the volunteer boards dedicate to do the proper due diligence necessary and to investigate matters that arise," Hansen added.
York, 81, said he and wife, Brenda, had smelled that odour for about eight years, but it wasn’t until recently that the cause was fingered.
Some rooftop sewer vent pipes from units were too close to, and in front of, the fresh air intake — sucking nasty odours into the building, York said. Best practices are the pipes should be a minimum 3.5 metres away and above the fresh-air intake.
So the condo board hired a contractor to extend eight of these problem vents up, an additional two metres each, and position them above the air intake vents late last November or early December.
“Which seems to have solved the issue. No more nasty smells,” York said.
The bill was paid from maintenance fees, which everyone who lives there pays.
“So $2,200 to us is a fair chunk of change,” York said of the bill. “We’re running on a very tight budget.”
York sent a Feb. 14, 2024 email to Pratt Homes, asking to be reimbursed.
Hansen said she missed the message, but recently caught up.
She said there were construction performance audits, City of Barrie inspections, consulting engineers, architects, etc., involved with the building of 100 Dean Ave.
Hansen also said builders can’t be unfairly asked by condominium corporations decades after construction to do repairs. She said there are building budgets for maintenance and ongoing updates, along with upgrades to technologies, that all condominium corporations should have in place, as a part of prudent maintenance.
York said his maintenance fees are more than $600 a month and are to pay for services such as snowplowing, landscaping and weed control.
But the smell problem was fixed before York’s email to Pratt Homes asked for reimbursement.
It will be delivered, by cheque, on Tuesday, March 19.
