The city's new three-person bylaw unit poses on the steps of city hall. (Submitted/City of Prince Albert)

By Alison Sandstrom

Progress report

Messy yards and boarded-up homes top priorities for new bylaw unit

Mar 8, 2021 | 5:13 PM

Messy yards and boarded-homes are the most common complaints reported to bylaw according to numbers released by the City of Prince Albert Monday. Along with traffic related issues – particularly those involving parking – the three categories account for approximately 75 per cent of the 856 complaints the city’s new bylaw unit has logged since October.

Bylaw moves from police to city hall

City council decided to shift responsibility for Prince Albert’s bylaw unit back to city hall from the police in July. At the time Mayor Greg Dionne said the unit had grown too costly during the fourteen years it was operated as part of the police department. The move was also designed to give the city a bigger role in the unit’s priorities.

Of the eight-member bylaw unit that existed previously, the Prince Albert Police Service retained two community safety officers.

Meanwhile the city’s new bylaw unit reports to the department of planning and development and is comprised of three members.

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Director of planning and development Craig Guidinger told paNOW shifting bylaw from the police to the city saves taxpayers approximately $100,000 per year and the new unit is able to keep pace with complaints despite its smaller staff.

“I believe we’re able to absolutely maintain the same level of service and I think go above and beyond as well,” Guidinger said. “A lot of that has to do with our reporting and tracking system, it’s a lot more efficient.”

The city’s new bylaw unit uses a real-time map-based reporting system.

Guidinger also noted by taking issues with messy yards and barking dogs off the police’s plate it frees up time for the remaining community safety officers to deal with more serious bylaw complaints.

Progress on boarded-up homes

The city reported five boarded-up homes have been demolished since the bylaw unit transition in October. Guidinger said around 15 of the problem dwellings remain in Prince Albert and the bylaw unit is targeting the removal of more by the end of 2021.

“We’re making good progress,” he said. “We’d like to get about 10 by the end of the year and then once we get all caught up we’ll only have about one or two to deal with per year.”

Proactive response

Guidinger thanked the police and in particular former bylaw manager Suzie Stubbs for their support getting the new unit up and running.

Going forward Guidinger said he wants bylaw to develop a more proactive approach.

“Where we can travel throughout the community and attend some of these sites before they get to the point of a complaint by the neighbours,” he explained.

Spring is generally a busy time for bylaw, as previously hidden issues emerge as snow receded, Guidinger said.

“I know there will be a challenge in front of us with all this melting snow,” he said. “But I think the residents should be happy with what we’re doing, and they’ll certainly be seeing us out and about.”

Of the 856 bylaw complaints logged since October, 745 have been resolved, the city said in a media release.

Editor’s note: this story has been amended to correct incorrect information given to paNOW about the number of Community Safety Officers retained by police. Two were retained, not three as a previous version of this story reported.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom