The court approved the settlement of the class action in the Constellations district of Lévis, putting an end to years of waiting for the owners whose houses were sinking into unstable ground.
Judge Denis Jacques ratified yesterday the settlement of $ 4.1 million that had occurred in November 2018. “The Tribunal considers that the agreement is in the best interests of the members,” ruled the judge.
This provides compensation for the owners of 286 residences. Their homes had suffered heavy damage due to the unstable soils of the streets of Orion, Cepheus, Phoenix, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, the Unicorn and the Centaur, in the Saint-Jean-Chrysostome neighborhood.
They had brought a class action in 2011 against the City of Lévis, alleging that the municipality had committed a fault by issuing building permits in the sector. The City had in turn implicated engineering firms and a dozen builders.
The compensation will follow a plan of distribution in 11 categories, which will vary the amounts received per residence, depending on the damage and the work already carried out. Some owners were disappointed with the amounts offered.
A subsidy program for the stabilization of foundations made it possible to pay a sum of $ 1.7 million in 2013 to certain members. This amount is added to the sum of compensation for the class action.
In the by-law, the City of Lévis is required to pay $ 1.2 million; Inspec-Sol, $ 1.6 million; insurer Lloyd’s, $ 1 million, and WSP, $ 250,000.
The City of Lévis says it has the “feeling of duty accomplished”, with the conclusion of this file. “I am satisfied with this court decision, which is part of a positive approach towards the citizens concerned, put forward as soon as I arrived at the City of Lévis in 2014. (…) The out-of-court agreement will now allow residents of the neighborhood to find some peace of mind, ”said the mayor, Gilles Lehouillier.
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