If last week’s Court of Revision regarding the proposed Exeter Diversion Drain is any indication, there are a lot of Exeter residents who want the project to go ahead, and many of them fear that it won’t.

As reported elsewhere in this week’s Times-Advocate, what’s at stake is a nearly $1 million federal-provincial grant for the approximately $1.5 million project that is intended to alleviate flooding concerns in the eastern portion of town.

But there is a catch, and that catch is a March 31, 2011 deadline for the project’s completion. If the project isn’t done by then, the municipality loses out on the grant, throwing the future of the project into question. Residents fear that another appeal will delay the project, causing the municipality to miss the March 31 deadline.

And then what happens? Does South Huron go looking for more grant money (good luck with that)? Will the project go ahead without the grant money, putting Exeter taxpayers on the hook? Or do we simply forget about the project for the foreseeable future, with residents in the eastern part of town still fearful that their homes could flood during heavy rainstorms?

Last week’s Court of Revision was held to deal with assessment appeals from property owners Robert and Donna Hamather and Gerald and Jeanette McBride, whose property much of the proposed drain is slated to go through. The Court of Revision, after hearing the appeal, decided to go ahead and pass the engineer’s schedule of assessment, but there is still a further period for appeal that could delay the project. The Court of Revision’s decision can be appealed, as can the design of the drain.

The appeal period ends at about the end of August. If the project isn’t appealed, then council can go ahead, pass the bylaw and move the project forward. If there is an appeal, the matter goes to a provincial tribunal and there will be a delay. The questions remaining are: How long will that delay be? And will the municipality lose the grant?

Several people, after last week’s Court of Revision was held, expressed their fear that the project will be further appealed and the grant will be lost. Many people, council included, want to see this project move ahead and be done with. It is something that has been worked on for years only to fail to come to fruition.

In the meantime, we wait.