With Barrie's growth and more calls for service, bylaw enforcement getting some help

More bylaw enforcement boots on city streets, and in neighbourhoods, could arrive next year.

Councillors have given initial approval to consider hiring a new full-time municipal law enforcement officer, and funding for the associated vehicle, workstation and uniform, as part of the 2021 budget debated in January.

Two additional officers will also be considered in 2022, and the demands from growth, call increases and regulatory changes will be reviewed to both maintain and enhance service levels.

“We have not increased our permanent staff complement since 2003,” said Tammy Banting, the city’s manager of enforcement services, noting Barrie’s 29 per cent population increase since then, and a 54 per cent increase in calls for service. “We can sustain those current response times… but that isn’t something that can be kept up over the coming years. 

“If the trends continue with our calls for service, those response times… will continue to be longer and longer," she added. "We’ve found ourselves at that tipping point.”

The enforcement office has three management employees, 10 full-time officers, 13 part-time officers, six people in its office, and 12 seasonal officers. They enforce bylaws ranging from parking, animal control and property standards to yard maintenance and parks regulations.

What’s being proposed is a phased approach to proactive enforcement — looking for infractions, instead of just reacting to complaints.

Deputy Mayor Barry Ward said there are two sides to that plan.

“It’s a balance. We can do proactive enforcement, but it comes with a blowback,” he said, mentioning a year ago when several downtown businesses got notices for not clearing snow from their sidewalks. “That’s what happens when we go overboard on proactive enforcement. It comes back to us. We get the complaints about it, so I know there has to be a fine balance there.”

Coun. Keenan Aylwin asked about better educating the community about standards, to reduce violations — and just being good neighbours.

“If we can prevent these things upstream, it’s saving time and money down the road,” he said.

“One of the things we need to do is encourage compliance, as opposed to doing more enforcement,” said Coun. Clare Riepma. “Then our neighbourhoods would be better than they ever were.”

The proposal is to add one full-time officer next year, for $98,000, and two more in 2022 at $220,000, to maintain service levels. Or immediately increasing service levels by hiring four more officers next year, for $566,264. These costs include vehicles, workstations and uniforms.

Both plans would lead to 25 per cent proactive enforcement, once all officers are in place mid-2022.

They also provide the ability to meet current service levels with growth that has already occurred, have faster response times once all officers are in place mid-2022 and allow for new officers to possibly assist with yard maintenance matters. It would also create a full rotational schedule to ensure coverage seven days a week for most enforcement matters.

Councillors also passed motion that bylaw services staff explore ways to have contact information for residential properties, including but not limited to phone numbers, e-mails and alternative addresses, in order to allow bylaw services to reach property owners that have properties with bylaw infractions in a quick and timely manner, and report back by the April 12, 2021 general committee meeting.

Also, that a letter be sent to Georgian College’s board of directors about cost-sharing an additional bylaw enforcement officer to enforce standards in the Georgian College neighbourhood perimeter beginning August 2021, and report back by memo once a response is received.

City council will consider final approval of all the matters at its Dec. 7 meeting.