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City needs to ensure all bylaw violators receive equal treatment, mayor says

The need for standards, both with respect to properties in Thompson and how the city treats those who fail to meet them, was a topic of discussion at the city’s last recreation and community services committee meeting before the summer break June 15.
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The need for standards, both with respect to properties in Thompson and how the city treats those who fail to meet them, was a topic of discussion at the city’s last recreation and community services committee meeting before the summer break June 15.

The discussion occurred after the presentation of the bylaw enforcement report, which showed that there were three tickets for derelict vehicles, one ticket for a vehicle being parked on a front lawn and 11 tickets for overfilled garbage bins in May, along with 15 for garbage in recycling bins and 26 property standards violations – 22 residential and four commercial.

'We hand out a ticket here or there,” said Mayor Colleen Smook. “There has to be 200 people parking on their lawns in this town. Supposedly on the weekend we gave a ticket to one [person] for garbage and recycling but across the street we gave a warning to a city employee for having parked on his lawn. We have to be consistent in our messages.”

The mayor also said that the same logic applies to garbage bin enclosures. She estimates there could be as many as 200 without the required enclosures.

Coun. Les Ellsworth said warnings can be used but need to be followed up on. 

“If there’s violations, there’s violations,” he said.

Thompson Fire & Emergency Services Deputy Chief Steve Molloy said some property owners don’t respond to warnings, citing the owners of the Grey Wolf Bay townhouses. 

“I’ve dealt with the owners in Vancouver of that property multiple times with respect to making sure that their hydrants are cleared in the wintertime for access,” he said. “I think warnings are done. I think they can start laying fines and then get that message to the owners.”

The mayor says the owners have excuses about property standards violations but that they don’t hold water.

“I’ve talked to management and stuff – ‘Well, it’s the clientele,’” she said. “I’m telling you, 10 Yale has the same clientele. You can walk through 10 Yale and there’s not a piece of garbage on the road. If there is, it’s gone within a few hours so it’s all about the management and the people getting out to clean it. I think the city really has to step up.”

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