Tired of not getting straight answers from those in charge, the residents of Farrell Street are putting their heads together to come up with a flooding solution of their own.
On Sunday night, a handful of them who were affected by last month's Fraser River rise gathered in the once-underwater Paddlewheel Park to throw around some ideas.
Those in attendance are in favour of having some sort of retaining wall installed along the park's edge, though what it would ultimately look like is still up in the air.
Meeting organizer Echo Wylie said there should be some sort of system that connects Paddlewheel and Fort George parks.
Neighbour Phyllis Warren agreed and said the city should take the opportunity to create a historic land tourist attraction.
"Make a walkway and have it high enough to act as a flood wall," Warren said. "It could tie into the rest of our trails in Prince George they've been upgrading."
Wylie cited Vancouver's seawall, which is a popular spot as well as a preventative measure against erosion along English Bay.
The residents have started a petition for the city to assist them in finding information about funding a retaining wall.
If the city was able to tie such a project to creating a heritage attraction, Wylie said there would likely be federal or provincial funding the city could tap into.
Another neighbour floated the idea of opening the other end of Farrell Street, which wouldn't cut residents off from their homes.
"The road allowance is already on the map," said Virginia Aiello. "They could retain this whole thing [the side of Farrell Street closest to the river] and we could still get out if the water came up to the property line."
For Daisy Hayman, the important thing is to have a plan in place early, so affected homeowners aren't left holding the bag when the rush to put in flood mitigation tools puts them out.
"Don't come to me and say 'we can't do anything, the water's too high,'" Hayman said. "Don't start to worry about us after. I feel like they threw us under the bus."
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