The Town of Osoyoos is not doing an acceptable job of enforcing its bylaws, local resident Debbie Armstrong told town council last week.

Armstrong said she was especially concerned to witness many transients at Gyro Park breaking posted bylaws and she doesn’t believe the bylaws are being enforced.

She also said there are continuing problems with unsightly properties in town, some of which have not been addressed in years.

“My biggest thing is don’t make bylaws you can’t enforce,” she said.

She also thinks bylaw enforcement should be conducted by town employees rather than contracted out to a private contractor that doesn’t have the same incentive to enforce the laws.

Armstrong made her comments at a committee of the whole meeting on July 6. Council listens to delegations from the public at these meetings, but doesn’t make any decisions at them.

She cited issues of aggressive dogs at Gyro Park, both on and off leash, and people smoking, drinking and using marijuana.

“They are breaking all the bylaws that are posted on that sign,” she said in a later interview.

Armstrong said too many warnings are being issued and not enough fines, meaning the town isn’t making revenue from bylaw enforcement.

“I guess my next course of action is to try to break some (bylaws) myself and see what the process is they actually go through,” she said.

The Osoyoos Times has heard other complaints from town residents about bylaw enforcement, including a letter to the editor by resident Susan Knox published in the July 8 paper.

Council members and staff, however, defended the town’s efforts to enforce the bylaws.

Mayor Sue McKortoff said it is wrong for people to assume the town doesn’t take bylaw infractions seriously.

“The town takes this very seriously,” she said.

The town has approved $10,000 to cover the costs of additional enforcement by the RCMP, she said.

There is extra enforcement between May and July when there are more transients in town, she said, adding that transient workers appear to have moved away sooner this year.

Janette Van Vianen, director of corporate services, said the town has already issued expulsion letters to offenders.

Coun. CJ Rhodes said the town has about 70 active files for unsightly premises and this is a high number for a town this size.

Letters need to be sent to those residents, but it may not be until the next tax season that costs can be recovered, he said, adding that enforcement is labour intensive.

Coun. Carol Youngberg said she has lived in Osoyoos for 40 years and the problem of unsightly properties has improved in that time.

McKortoff said town staff is coming up with a report to council with further recommendations.

People can’t always expect immediate gratification when they have concerns about properties, but the town does maintain a tracking system, she said.

She suggests that if people have concerns about a problem they should report it to the town rather than just discussing it with neighbours.

Armstrong said the non-committal response at council was what she expected and she understood the meeting was more of an information session.

“I guess I appreciated the respect they showed to me and the comments they made, but it’s not anything I didn’t expect,” she said.

An item on council’s regular meeting agenda to discuss “bylaw enforcement officer services contract” was struck off the agenda at the start of the meeting because council didn’t have time to discuss it first in their closed-door meeting.

Town Chief Administrative Officer Barry Romanko declined to clarify what the issue pertained to because there was no motion to bring it forward to the regular meeting and put it on the public record.

“I will be seeking that motion at the next meeting,” he said.

The town has been contracting its bylaw services to a company owned by Pat Marshall.

RICHARD McGUIRE

Osoyoos Times