Addressing public safety

Sharon McLeay
Times Contributor

 

Rural address signs on property can be a matter of life and death. The placement of signs, linked to emergency services’ GIS tracking systems, allow emergency personnel quick direction to the homes of people facing a crisis.
Wheatland County bylaw 2016-23 was brought before council on Oct. 4, highlighting changes to the addressing system for properties in its hamlets and rural areas. The address signage policy has been revamped from previous years and the draft can be viewed on the county website under the Oct. 4 agenda attachments.
The draft suggests a system where new properties have a sign issued with their development permit and a fee of $100 be charged for registering the address on the GIS system and installation of the signage. In the policy, the signage was for residences and not businesses or work areas. Currently every residence must have an address sign.
County councillors want more flexibility in the process.
“Anyone should be able to get a sign if they would like one and come in to pay for it,” said Coun. Brenda Knight.
She said local businessmen have asked about signage for their businesses to protect their employees and one farmer wanted a sign for a calving operation, so emergency personnel could easily locate workers if needed.
“I know specifically what Coun. Knight is referring to as they have come in to talk to me. The existing bylaw does not allow us to do that,” said CAO Alan Parkin. “If this policy passes, it would hopefully give the CAO discretion to cover this.”
The process would be for the applicant to come into the county office, make an application to the county ITGIS technician, who would program the address and initiate the installation of the signage on the property when activity begins at the building site. Parkin said that last year, 27 out of 120 developments would have been issued signs with their permits if this process was in effect.
There is a section concerning ticketing and fines for missing or defaced signs. The fines range from $250 to $750. There was discussion that if the sign was missing or defaced by vandals, the sign owner was being penalized for the damages and missing sign. Parkin said offenses and fines had not changed from the previous policy and the intent for fines was to penalize those obstructing, defacing or stealing the signs. To date there have not been any instances where a ticket was issued for missing signage.
“If we haven’t issued any tickets and we don’t think we will, why it is even in there?” said Coun. Ben Armstrong. “It is at their peril, not our peril.”
Reeve Glenn Koester brought up ownership of the signs, and through discussion, council concluded the signs’ ownership and maintenance should lay with Wheatland County. The signs are not placed on private property; rather, they are often in ditches and at roadway entrances. If the signs are accidentally damaged, a new sign could be made to replace it. The $100 fee would be for GIS registration and original sign installation.
Council passed the first reading asked staff to make the changes to the policy and bring it back to council for approval in second and third reading.