MINTO – Council here has approved an agreement to share the services of a bylaw enforcement officer with the Township of Mapleton.
On June 20 council passed a bylaw to appoint Hendrick (Rick) Hobbelink as a bylaw enforcement officer, property standards officer and peace officer for the Town or Minto, and authorized entry into a shared service agreement with Mapleton.
Hobbelink was appointed as a bylaw enforcement and property standards officer for Mapleton at the township’s June 13 meeting.
A report from director of building and planning services Terry Kuipers explains Minto’s current bylaw enforcement officer Cam Forbes is shared with Minto Fire as the town’s chief fire prevention officer.
“With the added duties of registering the construction types of buildings by the province, the fire department is struggling with current staffing levels to meet the provincial requirements,” Kuipers stated.
Bylaw enforcement requirements in Minto have also increased, he added.
“Due to the migration of a lot of outside persons from larger centres to Minto, and how grumpy people have gotten with COVID, the number of complaints that we received has gone up drastically, as well as the complexity of those complaints,” said Kuipers.
“We’re finding people are less tolerant with both their neighbours, as well as their neighbouring properties, how tidy they are.”
While some details of the agreement have yet to be finalized, Kuipers told council Hobbelink’s salary and schedule will be split evenly between the two municipalities, with Mapleton providing office space and necessary work equipment and Minto sharing equipment costs.
A desk at the Minto administration office will also be available for the bylaw enforcement officer.
Mapleton will supply a work vehicle, with Minto contributing through mileage charges.
“Sharing the cost of a vehicle is not practical, due to replacement of the vehicle … so we’re proposing to pay mileage for the Mapleton vehicle once it’s operating in Minto,” Kuipers explained.
Hobbelink, who has worked in similar positions with the Township of Woolwich and the City of Cambridge, also has experience with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
“Rick’s enforcement style matches very well with the town’s previous style: gaining compliance and (using) orders, fines and court as a last resort,” states Kuipers in the report.
The scope of the position remains unchanged and includes enforcing municipal bylaws and property standards.
“The appointment as a peace officer under the Police Services Act is for the person’s protection, as in the event of an assault on our officer the fines and incarceration periods are twice that of an assault on a normal person,” Kuipers states in the report.
Councillor Ron Elliott asked if written complaints would be required to initiate an investigation by the bylaw officer and if emails would suffice.
“Our standard of operation will remain the same. So people have the option of submitting a complaint via our website portal, they can mail us in a letter if they choose to, they can fax us in a letter if they choose to, or an email will suffice as well,” replied Kuipers.
“Quite often I get a complaint from the public over the telephone … then on their behalf, I can write an email and that complaint would be fine?” asked Elliott.
“You could, but I really don’t recommend it,” said Kuipers.
“If it goes to court, you’re going to have to go to court to testify with the nature of that complaint.
“They are best to reach out to us directly, then we can ask follow-up questions and try to figure out more of the situation before we enter into it.”
Elliott said “the biggest problem” he has is when people call him and don’t want their name involved.
“But they want to deal with the issue. And sometimes the issue is bad, but they are afraid to do anything about it. So how can we get around that?”
“Historically, when people complain about a property, nine times out of 10, they (the alleged offender) know who it is,” Kuipers replied.
“Regardless, we never disclose who it is, right until a point it gets to court. And when it gets to court, you’re going to be asked who it is, and they’re going to have to testify as well.
“So, unfortunately, when you start going down the legal road, they can’t hide.”
“I like the idea of the written complaints. It kind of eliminates the frivolous ones, where somebody just wants to complain about something,” said councillor Ed Podniewicz.
Deputy mayor Jean Anderson asked if the town could take action without a complaint, as some residents may be reluctant to submit one because “they don’t want to make enemies of the neighbour.”
“The reason why we do a complaint basis only, is situations where, if there’s an abandoned vehicle on a property, we stop in, we make them remove it, but we don’t see the other 10 down the road – they’re defence in court is, ‘Why is the big bad municipality picking on me when all these other situations are still ongoing?’” said Kuipers.
However, he added, “if we feel the need to take action on a property which we do on the rare basis, we can.”
Councillor Judy Dirksen noted with current bylaw officer taking on additional fire department duties, the town still has only a part-time level of bylaw enforcement, but an increasing workload.
“Is Rick going to need some help?” she asked.
Kuipers pointed out that himself, Forbes and deputy chief building official Dave Wilson are all officially appointed as bylaw officers and can help out “if there’s instances where things are getting significantly behind.”
Acting co-CAO Chris Harrow pointed out many of complaints dealt with by bylaw enforcement personnel in recent years “are very involved.
“It’s not just write orders or deal with it. It’s a continuous process when you’re trying to get compliance.
“There’s mental health issues, there’s financial issues – there’s a lot that goes into this now and a lot of agencies are now getting involved in a lot of this.”
Harrow added, “So having somebody that’s just bylaw, being able to dedicate to that and know the resources to bring along with them, that is going to be huge for us.”
