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 City council is not trying to be heavy-handed with a bylaw that forces residents to mow municipally owned boulevards adjacent to their properties. That was the word from Mayor George Fontaine Tuesday as he and council brought into force a bylaw that some see as overly intrusive. "You try not to hit somebody with a hammer," he said, adding that this was not the intent of the bylaw. Mayor Fontaine said the real goal is to make the community look nicer and save the city Ð and by extension taxpayers Ð the cost of hiring additional staff to maintain the boulevards. But concerned citizen Blair Sapergia, who appeared before council, said some boulevards, with their steep slopes and obstacles like stairs, would be hard for residents to maintain. Mayor Fontaine said the city already mows some difficult boulevards but agreed that council needs to take into account others that may exist. Sapergia said he does not see any leeway, however, in how the bylaw is worded. That prompted Municipal Administrator Mark Kolt to state that the city is "rather unlikely" to indiscriminately target people through the bylaw. "In general we try to work with people before we prosecute them," he said, adding that he would be surprised if some special allowances were not made. The aim of the bylaw, Kolt said, is to establish that in cases where boulevard mowing can be done, it is expected to be done. "I don't expect to see piles of prosecutions on this," he added. Coun. Colleen McKee said bylaws are usually enacted for the minority who do not do something, as the city cannot compel residents to take certain actions unless there is a rule on the books. '99 per cent' Coun. Bill Hanson, who introduced the bylaw, surmised that "99 per cent" of residents already mow their boulevards Ð "and God bless them." Mentioning civic pride, Coun. Hanson said the new bylaw follows the lead of other communities. Mayor Fontaine observed that the community is getting greener this summer and "looks terrific." The bylaw for the first time enshrines boulevard mowing into law. If a homeowner refuses, the city now has the right to mow the boulevard itself and tack the cost onto the resident's property tax bill. The preamble of the bylaw states that "many boulevard areas in Flin Flon have grass that needs seasonal cutting" and that the city "does not have the resources to mow all boulevard areas as a free service to the public." Common Neither Creighton nor Denare Beach have boulevard-mowing bylaws, but they are nonetheless seen as common across Canada. Paula Muench, town administrator for Creighton, said the town's boulevards are mostly located on Main Street. She said the town would like residents to mow their ditches Ð and most do Ð but there is no law requiring them to do so. Also Tuesday, council finalized bylaws that ban smoking and unauthorized fires at the municipal landfill. The smoking ban comes after a recent fire at the dump believed to have been started by a cigarette. The fire ban similarly relates to safety concerns. A person found guilty of smoking at the dump will be fined at least $300. Someone lighting a fire without written permission from the city will be fined at least $1,000.
