UNITY - On a recent social media post, some Unity residents expressed concern over receiving a letter regarding a variety of issues that go against the town’s bylaw policy and enforcement. Others weighed in on this post with their concerns as well
Mayor Sharon Del Frari responded on the post saying, “They aren’t his bylaws, they have been brought in at the direction of council. Council acts on behalf of the taxpayers. What makes one person happy, upsets another. You can find our list of councilors on the town website. We are all working to ensure our bylaws apply to everyone equally. “
While problem resolution rarely comes from social media posts or interaction, some residents say they have contacted the town for clarification.
Mayor Del Frari says, “The Bylaws are put in place by Council with direction from taxpayers and Provincial regulations under the Municipalities Act. We are required to provide Bylaw enforcement under the Municipalities Act. We do have a number of Bylaws and Procedures in place from this Council and former Councils. We are going through ALL of our Bylaws and Procedures BUT we have only made it through about two of 10 sections of our book. It's something that needs to be done, but of course, other issues come up that take precedence as they may be time sensitive. “
The mayor says their website is also not updated in the Bylaw and Policy section. This will be done once mayor and council have gone through and cleaned out the irrelevant Bylaws.
“Our Bylaw Officer generally responds to complaints from citizens OR on direction from Council. Council often gives the Bylaw Officer direction through proper process to focus on problem areas as we see them or as complaints focus on. “
Mayor Del Frari adds, “If Residents have an issue with warnings or letters to remedy please contact me or one of our Councillors. We understand that by the time the letter arrives, the problem may have been dealt with already. If this is the case, please disregard the letter as nothing further will be done. There is a procedure for our Bylaw Officer to follow and it takes awhile to go through all the steps. Just to give you an idea, one yard that Town had to clean up had over 90 bags of garbage and weeds over 2 feet tall. Our recreation staff does the yard clean up and it wasn't a pleasant day at work.
We do understand that everyone is busy, and things can be forgotten or overlooked. “
The Unity mayor closes stating, “As a Council it's our responsibility to ensure all residents are treated fairly and we are certainly monitoring all Bylaw infractions. We're here for everyone and we try to find the middle ground when possible.”
