City administration in North Battleford intends to get tough with those dumping appliances and other inappropriate items in back alleys.
At council Monday, City Manager Jim Puffalt made clear there are provisions in the Waste Management Bylaw at their disposal if inappropriate items are found dumped into the alleys.
The bylaw states "no person shall dispose of waste anywhere in the city other than in a cart, waste container, at the waste management facility or where determined by the director." It goes on to state "if the identity of a person who has placed waste on land contrary to the provisions of the bylaw cannot reasonably be ascertained, the owner or occupant of the land shall remove the waste or cause the waste to be removed upon being directed to do so by the director, a medical health officer, public health inspector or peace officer."
If the items are not cleaned up in a reasonable time the City will have the work done and the bill will be charged to the property owner.
The response from Puffalt and city administration is rooted in reports of inappropriate items being thrown into back alleys, such as mattresses, furniture, clothes, trees and branches.
"We want to give advance notice to the community that this can no longer go on," Puffalt said, saying they wanted to be "proactive" rather than reactive. Residents were also urged to be on the lookout for people dumping inappropriate items in alleyways.
The City's hard line did not entirely sit well with councillor Ryan Bater, who noted there was an incident where someone else dumped a washing machine in the alley behind his property last summer.
He was not happy about the prospect of property owners being on the hook for items dumped in their alley.
Puffalt nevertheless held firm and said "we have to draw a line in the sand," though he did later offer that the City would use its discretion in such instances.
"The last thing we want to do is cause a bunch of hardship to people, but again, we have to do something," said Puffalt.
