By Lyonel Doherty
Oliver’s Community Safety and Crime Prevention Committee (CSCP) is supporting a proactive (as opposed to reactive) model of bylaw enforcement.
That was the approved option on Tuesday when the group met in council chambers.
But Town council will have the final say on whether it increases the budget approximately $80,000 to accommodate this new approach.
The new model would see a full-time, in-house bylaw enforcement officer being proactive in monitoring infractions as opposed to responding to complaints only. For example, instead of waiting for a complaint about a nuisance property, the Town would initiate action on its own.
Randy Houle, director of development services, said the Town of Osoyoos recently developed a proactive approach to enforcing its bylaws.
In Oliver, a full-time supervisor would be required to work 35 hours a week, being on call outside of regular office hours.
Houle’s report shows hiring a bylaw officer full-time for 40 hours per week, and a bylaw officer for part-time relief work.
Houle said it would cost $20,000 less a year to have a contractor do the work, but he noted it’s more beneficial to have an in-house employee look after bylaw enforcement.
Committee member Sue McKortoff said the full-time bylaw officer in Osoyoos is working out very well. The Town also bought a truck and two electric bikes for bylaw officers to use.
“You’re quite right that there are lots of other things that probably were not dealt with by a contractor because the contractor had a budget and was trying to keep within her budget.”
Fellow committee member Jim King said the in-house officer allows Town staff to put more hours into other tasks that need to be done.
Committee member at large Pat Hampson said he doesn’t like the idea of Town staff spending time taking complaints because they have enough to do.
Hampson said Oliver is expanding and has to catch up with the times by offering the same services as other communities.
Oliver RCMP commander Sgt. Blaine Gervais said they rely on bylaw officers quite a bit to manage some of the calls for service they receive.
Committee chair Martin Johansen said one of the Town’s priorities is to enhance policing by taking some of the workload off of the RCMP. This is done by getting other personnel (such as bylaw officers) to handle enquiries.
Committee member Michael Guthrie suggested utilizing a quad vehicle or bike to monitor the local pathways, some of which are “nothing but a causeway for criminals.”
Chief Administrative Officer Cathy Cowan clarified that the proposed $80,000 increase to the budget is not the total budget for bylaw enforcement. The total figure is $157,000.
