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Council reviews bylaw enforcement protocols

Bi-weekly Keremeos council report

Keremeos Village Council met for their regular meeting on Monday August 29.

Present at the meeting was bylaw enforcement officer Kevin Aschhoff, who discussed his role in enforcement of village bylaws, in addition to answering any questions of council.

In a recent citizen survey, a primary concern of the residents of Keremeos was bylaw enforcement. Council was seeking information regarding the village’s bylaw enforcement capabilities.

Aschhoff outlined his job description, describing to council how he conducts his shift in the village.  He indicated that he worked in conjunction with village staff to determine what bylaw infractions were outstanding, and how to go about resolving them.

Part of his regular shift duties included walking the parks, trails and dike system, as well as the downtown core to check on parking violations.

“I have no set schedule,” he told council, “my visits to the village are randomized.”

The village currently has only 15 hours per week budgeted for bylaw enforcement, an issue when it comes to bylaw officer presence in the community.

Council dealt with two bylaw enforcement issues following Aschhoff’s presentation. Staff requested that council reduce the time period for properties that need to be mowed from three weeks to two weeks.

Staff also requested changes to the number of signatures required to register a complaint, in that council require two unrelated people that own property or live within the village or one person that lives within 30 m (98 feet) of the property they are registering a complaint about, to sign each complaint form. Both requests were put forward in order to allow for more efficient processing of bylaw complaints, and both motions were carried by council.

Council was informed that the village received a dividend cheque in the amount of $1,300 from the Municipal Insurance Association of B.C.

The Similkameen Sizzle Committee made their annual request for assistance from the village for their festival function on September 17. Council agreed to the request, but noted that they would be tabulating the cost of the donation for this and other activities in the future, in order to better understand what such requests were actually costing the village.

A letter requesting a motion of support for the Senior’s Centre’s pursuit of some grant funding was approved.

Council authorized an employment contract for the new village Chief Financial Officer, Robert Hager.

The MMM Group, consultants for the village’s Official Community Plan (OCP) review will be expected to arrange for a workshop session that will combine seniors and students in the village. Council strongly expressed the view that extra costs should not be incurred for separate workshops, which the MMM Group estimated at $1,890.  The village has a $25,000 contract with the MMM Group to assist in the OCP update.

Council’s final business of the evening was to pass a “Cross Connection Control” bylaw to  reduce the possibility of contaminants being introduced into the village’s potable water supply.