Bylaw report issued to council

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The following excerpts and statistical information is taken directly from bylaw officer Brandon Bullock’s 2014 third quarter written report to town council tabled at the Oct. 27 meeting.

Alley Operations
“In the past six months, I have been making extra efforts to educate the public on what is acceptable to put in the alley dumpsters and what needs to be taken down to the transfer station and the compost sites. I have been busy combatting the far too common practice of discarding all unwanted household items into the alley. I have issued many notices for items behind a property that the occupant claims is not theirs. According to Utility Bylaw 14-2013 all owners and occupants of a property are responsible for keeping the front and back of their property clean from the center of the road in front to the centre of the alley behind. This at times can cause a problem when people relocate their discarded items to an alley other than their own. I have been advising people to be vigilant of what is going on in their alley. In several cases people are putting things in dumpsters to overflowing, and unfortunately these individuals are from out of town.”

Wildlife
“This summer has produced a large number of unwanted guests. Earlier this summer we had a couple of weeks with a lot of calls of raccoon sightings. Fortunately there did not seem to be any complaints of damages done by raccoons. In the last couple of weeks I have trapped and relocated 10 skunks. It is that time of year where the skunks are finding winter dens. I did not get sprayed.”

Boulevards
“I have been identifying places where town boulevards are being used for parking. In these cases I have spoken to the owners of the property and made them aware of the law prohibiting parking on the boulevard. In some cases they have moved the vehicle, and in other cases there have been tickets issued. This has proved to be a challenge as some driveways have a portion that is on the boulevard. In these cases as long as the vehicle is not impeding traffic or pedestrians, parking has been permitted. On the other hand there are places where vehicles are parked on what looks like the boulevard but turns out to be on the property. Property line checks are necessary for each case.”

Vacant Properties
“We have several vacant properties in town, two of which have recently been demolished. Continued efforts are being made to remedy solutions to hold each property owner accountable for their property. I have issued notices to these properties, in some cases this has been enough to spark the owner to keep the property maintained. The next step would be to send a contractor in to complete the work listed on the notice if it is not complied with by the due date. The costs are collected on property taxes. In the case of properties that have been issued more than a couple of notices, a specified penalty fine is issued in addition to a notice. The problem I have run into is if the owner does not pay the specified penalty, the next step is to issue a ‘part two’ provincial summons. The summons must be issued personally or to someone 18 years old or older at the residence or property. In several cases the owner does not live in town, therefore an action request has to be sent to the agency in that jurisdiction. There are times we only have a mailing address for the owner and have not been able to obtain a physical address. In these cases it is extremely difficult to proceed.”

The following statistical information pertains to the period July-September 2014.
Municipal Bylaw-Other: 110. Parking Offences: 4. Items Lost/Found: 9. Municipal Bylaw-Traffic: 10. Provincial Non-Moving Offences: 4. Animal Calls: 4. Provincial Moving Traffic Offences: 2. Miscellaneous: 7. Total: 150.

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