Daniel MacIsaac
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Apr 28/00) - Part of the ongoing effort to clean up and beautify Inuvik involves laying down the law.

Inuvik Town Council will soon face a third and final reading on two proposed bills -- an anti-littering bylaw and unsightly land and premises bylaw. The bills have gone through two readings and were sent back to the Public Services Committee for further revision.

"It's the final chance to make sure they're perfect," said Mayor George Roach.

Senior administrative officer Don Howden said the draft bills were written to revise existing laws and as a response to the recently formed Beautification Committee to upgrade the fines "to be meaningful."

But Roach said working out finer points of the bylaw is not going to be easy. He said deciding, for example, just how much animal waste in a yard warrants a fine or where it's legal to curb your dog is a tricky business.

"Some towns have free-drop zones, but here we are in Inuvik and we're still very much a frontier community," he said. "I applaud the efforts of the Beautification Committee, but I'm afraid that my dog will land me in jail."

Roach said it's also going to take a great deal of tact to determine when one man's junk is another man's treasure regarding abandoned or inoperative vehicles.

"The bylaws need some serious refining yet," he said. "Donald Ross is a sensible fellow, but not all bylaw officers are, and we have to protect our citizens from what could become harassment."

But Public Services Committee member Coun. Denny Rodgers said it was lack of enforcement in the past that's resulted in the current predicament -- and the need to increase fines.

"I don't think the fines will be too much, but they've got to be a certain amount before people take them seriously," he said. "We have bylaws and we have to enforce them. No one's ever been fined for dropping a pop can on the street, and we have to go full board if at all."

Howden had said fines for first-time unsightly premises offences, for example, would rise from $25 to $150 and from $75 to a maximum of $600 for repeat offenders. Roach added the committee may even go higher for this and other fines.

Dump targeted

Rodgers said he is also pushing for privatization of the town dump.

"We had a little meeting Wednesday, and we're looking at tendering out at the dump and to run it through a private contractor like they do in Whitehorse," he said.

Rodgers said Whitehorse has a dump monitor, scheduled dumping hours and dumping fees as well as a swap shop of sorts. He said going private may be the answer to Inuvik's dumping woes.

"We just produce a lot of garbage for a town this size," he said. "The garbage at the dump has to be pushed back once or twice a week but if we have a monitor and it's better organized, that may only have to be every three weeks. That's more environmentally- friendly and it's more economical for the taxpayer."

Rodgers said council and the Beautification Committee have enjoyed good response from the community so far, and he hopes the new bylaws will be in place in time for spring cleanup -- and for tourist season.

"We do have a tourism industry," he said. "But we get the same comments over and over again -- nice town but what a mess."