The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor With winter here to stay, city council is raising the spectre of a new parking bylaw unless residents voluntarily take their campers and trailers off of public streets. Coun. Bill Hanson is appealing to residents' 'common sense and consideration' in asking them to store those items on private property. 'All over town, people seem to think that they can park wherever they want on public streets,' he said at Tuesday's council meeting, 'and it's just about time for snow-clearing and it always creates a lot of problems. 'There's lots of places in town where the graders are going to have a hard time.' But Coun. Hanson conceded that unless someone fails to move their vehicle or trailer when their particular street is being graded, no bylaws are being violated. 'Legally they can (stay parked). Yes they can,' he said. 'But that's what I'm saying is, in other cities _ in Winnipeg or Brandon, Portage la Prairie _ you're not allowed to keep your camper in front of your home on a public street for months at a time.' Council could potentially adopt a similar bylaw, but Mayor George Fontaine said that is not their preferred route. 'We're trying to take a soft approach and say to people, 'Try and, you know, do something reasonable, find a decent place (for your items),'' the mayor said. Coun. Hanson echoed that sentiment. 'I don't think that we should be creating any more bylaws dealing with this if people would just put their stuff away,' he said, 'because there's so many trailers out there and it's going to force our hand because we are getting complaints now.' Coun. Hanson said he has received 'a number of complaints over trailers being used for advertising or trailers that have just been parked on the same spot all year.' 'And I just would say to the public, 'Please, move your stuff. Take it off the public roads. Put it on private property where it's supposed to be,'' he said. The comments came as council reviewed a letter from a Wally Heights resident concerned with 'vehicles, trailers, boats, motors, etc.' parked on the street in the subdivision. 'This hampers the grader operator from clearing the road of snow, etc.,' wrote Lois (Bunny) Burke. See 'Services...' on pg.6 Continued from pg.3 'Our water and septic services need to have ample access to the homes.' Beyond concerns over their mere presence, Mayor Fontaine said 'considerable complaints' have been generated by the size of cargo trailers on public streets. 'Yes they're legal, but they're very difficult to see around,' he said. 'I mean, let's face it, they're as wide across as (a) bus, so (it's) very difficult to see (around). So if people take a reasonable approach, it makes it easy. We're not sitting here trying to...make another rule, be that big bad guy at the top. (Instead we're) saying, 'Take a reasonable approach yourselves and look around and see what problems you're causing and find a way around it.'' As Coun. Hanson noted, trailers and other items parked on a public street during a scheduled snow-clearing can be towed away by the city. He said such parking concerns are more prevalent now than in the past. 'With the HBMS bonus (cheques), many more people that didn't have campers now do,' Coun. Hanson said. But the problem goes beyond campers, boats and trailers. Coun. Karen MacKinnon said a resident once left his ice shack on the street in front of his home for an entire year. 'And it wasn't an attractive fishing shack,' she said, 'and I had people complain to me.' Many bylaws relative to residential areas, Coun. Hanson said, are designed to 'create harmony in neighbourhoods.' 'The bylaws are in place so that you don't get in a fight with your neighbour,' he said, 'because if you're in a fight with your neighbour, it's a horrible thing. It's not comfortable. 'All I'm saying is, use common sense and consideration.' Highlights Other highlights from Tuesday's council meeting: Council voted to donate $500 to Operation Red Nose and allow the Rotary Club-led program to use City Hall as its headquarters this holiday season. Red Nose drives residents home in their own vehicles when they are unfit to go behind the wheel, usually due to alcohol consumption. Mayor Fontaine urged residents to utilize the service, noting that co-sponsor MPI makes a donation for every ride provided. All proceeds from Red Nose stay in the Flin Flon area to fund youth recreational initiatives. Council reviewed the animal control officer's October report, which noted that one animal _ a dog _ was captured. It was turned over to the SPCA. Mayor Fontaine spoke on putting the star atop the new artificial Christmas tree at Pioneer Square this week, calling it an honour. The tree was purchased not by the city, but by the volunteer Main Street Business Builders Committee. Council voted to purchase from the Royal Canadian Legion a $55 wreathe for a city official to lay at this Sunday's Remembrance Day ceremony. Mayor Fontaine spoke on attending Jake's Gift, a one-woman play about a Second World War veteran's return to Juno Beach for the 60th Anniversary of D-Day, this past Sunday, Nov. 4 at the R.H. Channing Auditorium. He said local veterans were invited to attend the production free of charge, and the play moved them and the other audience members to tears. 'Just a phenomenal, phenomenal production,' added the mayor.
