Insurance for the Terra Ridge strata in Williams Lake has increased by almost four times since the city issued a state of local emergency for the neighbourhood due to a slow-moving slide
“The average unit here is having to pay $5,000 a year up from about $1,300,” said Brad Follack, chair of the strata council. “We had to renew here about three weeks ago for a year.”
For the previous year they budgeted for $125,000 for the 80 units. That has gone up to $415,000.
In addition, each unit owner is required to purchase contents insurance.
Follack said it was important for the strata to provide insurance in order for the owners to be able to insure their own units.
“There were some companies that would not offer the contents insurance if the strata did not have insurance,” Follack said.
Last September, the city issued the state of local emergency for Terra Ridge after responding to complaints of damage to the buildings. At the time, four units in the strata were deemed uninhabitable.
On April 10, 2024 the city lifted the state of local emergency, but said the do not occupy order is still in effect for the four units.
“In order for us to move ahead in the market, we needed the state of local emergency to be lifted,” Follack said. “We also need a remediation plan in place.”
He said a report from Octo Engineering Inc. in Williams Lake preceded the local state of emergency in September.
That report also identified there were about 22 units with minor truss issues not attributable to land movement, but could go back to the original construction.
“They are minor things on the truss plates that will be fixed under the guidance of an engineer.”
So far the strata has not been told whether the four units are rebuild-able or if they have to be torn down.
They are expecting a report from Watson Engineering in a week.
“The city has received a preliminary report and when they get the final report they will release it to us,” Follack said.
Lifting the state of local emergency is the first step in moving forward for the strata because while under it insurance was a big issue and the strata’s credibility with the underwriters was “horribly damaged.”
Once they have the Watson report, Follack said they can start making remediation plans for the four do-not-occupy units.
With the lifting of the state of emergency, however, the strata no longer qualifies for funding through emergency disaster management with the province.
Follack said the city is going to help them go through the disaster relief funding application process.
“We are not sure exactly how that money can be applied, whether it’s for the repairs to the four units or any of the infrastructure that remains here.”
For insurance reasons, they will also need some additional reports, such as from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure about its plans around the nearby historical Hodgson slide.
Last fall the MoTI began working on ditching and culvert improvements to enhance drainage in the Highway 20 and Hodgson and Dog Creek Road area, which will resume this summer.
Insurance wants to see if there has been any efforts to address the land movement issues and if there has, has there been any positive affect, Follack said.
“Half a year later if you walk through the compound you will see nothing’s changed. There has not been one person step forward and say there’s been a drywall crack or a board jam or any evidence of land movement type damage.”
The four units deemed uninhabitable had damage that incurred over a 30-year period, he said.
“They did not suddenly happen and that is why we are not qualifying for government assistance. To qualify you have to have a sudden landslide that comes to an end.”
With the Hodgson slide being deemed slow moving, Follack said he thinks there has been a vast misunderstanding of the situation at Terra Ridge.
“There are a lot of people who think we are sliding into Williams Lake and that is just not true.”
Once the Watson Engineering report is released, which will be the last of the studies commissioned while Terra Ridge was under the state of local emergency, the strata will go through it and the other reports to summarize them in an understandable way, probably with the help of an engineer.
Having solid information will help when someone is trying to sell a unit, whether it is the owner or a realtor, Follack said.
“We will be able to factually state our situation, which I think has been blown out of proportion actually.”
READ MORE: State of local emergency lifted for Terra Ridge Williams Lake
READ MORE: MoTI hosts open house about Hodgson and Dog Creek slides impacting Williams Lake
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