City staff could get power to ticket cars in snow routes

The City of Prince Albert is looking at giving the power to ticket and tow vehicles parked in priority snow clearing routes to public works department employees, the city manager said on Monday.

Jim Toye said the department’s staff would be given the same sort of authority as bylaw officers would have when it comes to having vehicles towed. He said it wouldn’t come into effect this winter, but he hopes to have it in place this fall.

“That’s something that we talked about, something that we can … we think we might be able to do, and we’ll be talk to the city solicitor,” Toye said.

He added the City’s trying to be flexible with the staff it has, rather than adding bylaw enforcement officers in the winter.

Giving City staff the power to ticket is not something new in Prince Albert. Prince Albert Police Service Chief Troy Cooper said public works staff already has the power to ticket in fire lanes and handicapped parking, as well as parking meters downtown.

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City staff informs bylaw enforcement officers where snow removal work will be taking place after a snowfall. The City gives bylaw notice so officers can go to the area to assist with ticketing and towing, Cooper said.

He said the issue arises when the area crews are cleaning is large or when bylaw staff is called away to other priority calls and there isn’t enough resources to do an appropriate job of towing vehicles on that day.

Cooper said he thinks it’s just a capacity issue. “Bylaw is scheduled regularly when there’s a snow removal date and our bylaw staff go and help do the ticketing and the towing and the only time we have real struggles is when it’s a large area that requires our attendance and one staff member, say, might not be able to accomplish that alone.”

He said that’s when they partner with public works and to him the City is looking to have more staff available to partner with bylaw.

“I think where bylaw staff is more valuable, where there are issues around towing vehicles etcetera, and I know that the City is looking into changes into that process as well.”

One related recommendation that Mayor Greg Dionne raised at Monday’s executive committee is to review the fine for parking in a snow route, which he said is currently $10, plus towing fees.

“And one guy told me ‘I won’t get out of bed for $10,’” Dionne said. He suggested looking to the example of other cities, where he said fines can be as high as $150, and cars are towed to the next block. The $150 covers the ticket and the tow, he added.

The City would be able to collect the fine through SGI if the driver doesn’t pay the ticket, Dionne said.

“So there is going to be an aftermath, because this is the first time we’ve been very aggressive and actually towing. We’ve always said we’re going to do it. But now we do it,” he said.

On Tuesday, Dionne said council is leaning towards moving the vehicles over a block. This would mean the ticket would be a flat-rate charge and after paying the fine, residents can pick up their vehicle from the neighbouring block, as opposed to a vehicle compound.

“And most people don’t have an issue with their vehicle being towed. The issue they have is sometimes it takes them a day or two to get there, and they have to pay off compound fees, storage fees. And that’s what they object to,” Dionne said.

The crackdown on snow route parking

The City’s efforts to crack down to date may have already yielded results.

This year, since the City has started to tow vehicles parked along streets being plowed, residents have been moving their vehicles, Dionne said on Tuesday. He explained the public knows the City is now serious.

The City is also issuing more tickets this year, and it will be at least a year until the City has comparable numbers, Dionne said.

“We’ve never ticketed and towed at the volume that we’ve done now, so we really don’t have a comparison,” he said.

Dionne said the vehicles are a danger, because plows are leaving ridges around them. When the vehicles are driven away, they leave behind that ridge, away from the curb.

It also costs the City money to send a grader back to the area that had previously been plowed to clear spots where vehicles had left snow ridges out in the street.

To improve the level of public compliance, the City plans to start an education program earlier in the year to encourage residents to move their vehicles.

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames