Council briefs
Waste bags in, dog limits out
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Friday, October 25, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Council showed little appetite for limiting the number of dogs a resident can own as it reviewed a draft of the city's new dog bylaw during a committee meeting on Oct. 15.
Councillors voted five to two against having dog limits included in the final draft of the bylaw, which will be voted on at later date.
Changes to the bylaw, which allow for stricter enforcement of infractions related to barking and the accumulation of feces, made the need to limit the dogs irrelevant, argued several councillors.
"For lack of a better word, there seems to be more teeth in this current draft," said Coun. Cory Vanthuyne.
However, Couns. Phil Moon Son and Adrian Bell, who were both in favour of some kind of limit, worried that in its current form, the bylaw places the onus on citizens to prove their neighbours are breaking the law.
"For me, it's very distressing when neighbours have to conduct stakeouts on each other and have to catch each other violating bylaws," said Bell.
"There seems to be a correlation that just because you are a responsible dog owner, your dogs are not a nuisance to the neighbourhood. I believe that correlation is wrong," added Moon Son.
Council did maintain its support for making it mandatory for dog owners to carry poop bags to clean up after their dogs.
Const. Doug Gillard said enforcing the law properly would require the city to hire an animal enforcement officer.
Councillors said they would discuss the possibility of hiring a new officer during budget deliberations.
Bell said even without the additional officer, he still supported the requirement being in the bylaw.
"I don't think it's incorrect to assume that we can get bylaw officers to redirect five per cent of their efforts to deal with littering infractions," he said.
Council also voted against limiting where dog teams can be kept in the city. Commercial kennels remain exclusively permitted in Kam Lake under the existing zoning bylaw.
'It's a dock not a deck'
Several people showed up to speak out against a bylaw that would see Pilot's Monument and Government Dock rezoned as parks and recreation during a council meeting on Oct. 15.
The proposed bylaw, which was subject to a statutory public hearing before proceeding with its second reading, is part of the city's plans to re-vamp both areas under its harbour plan.
Earlier this summer, the city removed illegally parked cars at the dock and replaced them with picnic tables and flower pots as part of a pilot project.
While those in attendance applauded the city for removing the cars, they were against the dock being turned into a recreational space.
"The government dock is a working dock. It's not a deck and it's not a picnic patio," said Mike Byrne.
Byrne added - sarcastically - that the city's pilot project "was an unqualified success, nobody used it."
After reading a list of comments that spoke out against the rezoning of the dock, Byrne argued that the city had been selective in who it listened to during its public consultations.
Jeff Humble, director of planning and development, said the city held numerous discussions with the commercial contractors that use the dock. Humble said one of the commercial fishing ventures approached the city to ask if it could sell fish in a stall on the dock. In order to facilitate that, the area would have to be rezoned as parks and recreation, said Humble.
"It's clearly administration's intent that the dock will remain a working dock," said Humble.
After hearing the arguments put forward by the speakers, council voted to postpone the second reading of the bylaw.
Administration will now review the comments made and will address them to council at a later date.
Happy anniversary
Mayor Mark Heyck congratulated council on completing its first year of being in office during Oct. 15's committee meeting.
"Time flies when you're having a good time," said Heyck.
Bob Brooks, who has served seven terms as a city councillor, said this council is different than those he has been on previously.
"Mostly because the vast majority of them are brand new," said Brooks, pointing to the fact that six of the eight have never been councillors before.
As a result of council's inexperience, Brooks said there are more questions being asked, specifically pertaining to background information regarding certain processes and programs.
"If they had been on a previous council, they wouldn't have to ask these questions," said Brooks.
While the inexperience of the current council may lead to sessions moving slower than they have in the past, Brooks said having so many new councillors has brought a renewed sense of urgency to proceedings.
"I'm quite impressed with all the things we're trying to do," said Brooks. "I have to hand it to them, they're definitely not slackers. I just hope they can keep that energy up for the next two years as well."
Additional bylaw officer questioned
The city is looking to add another bylaw officer to address community safety concerns—and it says the cost of paying one will by offset by the revenue the officer creates in tickets and fines.
Carl Bird, director of corporate services, said another officer would cost the city $74,700 in annual salary. He estimates the one officer would also collect about $100,000 of revenue from issuing traffic and parking tickets.
But during a municipal services committee on Monday, councillor Dan Wong questioned the move. He wondered how an additional officer would be able to free up resources for community patrols in the downtown and trail areas at the same time as collecting revenue from tickets and parking meters.
Coun. Bob Brooks raised a similar concern, and wondered if even more are needed.
"I have a hard time understanding how we can do it by simply adding one (bylaw officer)," Brooks said.
The city says it will be conducting a review of its municipal enforcement next year.
- Daniel Campbell
