Loitering, increased snow removal fees

Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter

 

An amendment to the Community Standards Bylaw now sees regulations in place for loitering with the Town of Strathmore.
“What we have done is drafted an amendment to the bylaw to give definition to and to regulate loitering,” said Municipal Clerk Jennifer Sawatzky during the Dec. 17 town council meeting.
The amendment states that loitering is defined by lingering or hanging out in a public place or business where one has no particular purpose. No person shall loiter in a public place in any way that obstructs or disturbs persons in that place. Also included is that no person shall stand or put his/her feet on top of a surface of any table, bench, planter, sculpture or other fixture in a public place. The fines for both are $250 for an initial offence and $500 for a subsequent offence.
Another change proposed was to increase the administration fee for implementing and processing clean-up of unsightly properties and removal of snow from sidewalks due to non-compliance.
There will be increase to the fee, but the amount of time a resident has to clear the snow will remain the same, which is currently 48 hours. The fee will increase from $50 to $75.
“I continue to be concerned about the fact that many of our residents fail to remove snow from their sidewalks in a timely manner, so I appreciate the fact of the increased fee, the penalty for having us go and do it,” said Councillor Bob Sobol.
He asked administration how often the town has to clear an unsightly property or snow for residents, which was not known, and said that it seems like a good way to deal with some of these issues is have someone go out and shovel it and then give them the bill for it.
“If they don’t want to do it then they can pay for it the other way, it’ll be a little more expensive,” said Sobol
“This is a matter of education as well, people have to understand they can’t leave their snow on sidewalks, this is where people walk and some of those people are elderly and some of these people have difficulty walking at the best of times.”
Mayor Michael Ell wondered if there are parameters in place for municipal enforcement and whether or not there is any flexibility when tickets are issued or if are people are ticketed no matter what.
“They use their own discretion but if they feel there’s snow or ice that’s making it dangerous for people going down the street they write them a ticket,” said Chief Administrative Officer Dwight Stanford. Both amendments were passed.