The Reeve of Hanover says Council has been battling issues with basement depths for quite some time.

Stan Toews notes there are areas of the municipality, particularly south of Mitchell where the water table is extremely high and when basements are dug, it causes grief for homeowners and

neighbours and fills ditches with water. The municipality contacted its lawyer to see if it can regulate the basement depth or even identify where basements are not allowed in the municipality.

"On the advice of our lawyer he said you are opening yourself up for a lot of liability if you do," says Toews.

Hanover's lawyer confirmed that the only way to implement a safeguard in determining whether a basement can safely be constructed without threats of high water table issues is to make an engineering assessment mandatory as part of the new home construction building permit process.

"But that would add thousands of dollars to each property and we can't just pick certain areas that have to do the assessment," says Toews. "Then everybody who builds in Hanover has to do this."

Council discussed the matter at its last meeting. Toews admits there are some subdivisions that should never have been developed, because of high water table. Chief Administrative Officer Luc Lahaie notes council approved these subdivisions and now has to live with it.

Councillor Bob Brandt says in some areas of the municipality you could dig eight feet down and still be dry, while other areas have water already two feet below the surface. He adds the safest thing to do is just let ratepayers know they are responsible for what they dig.

Council has decided not to change any of its policies.