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at About Bruderheim
Bylaw violations on properties owned by Town of Bruderheim
Ideas on what to do to attract more people that wish to live in Bruderheim
By Walter Schneider
Bylaw violations on town properties
For us to be able to attract more families — families with children or planning to have children — to come to Bruderheim and settle here, a little extra is required. As good as Bruderheim looks, it must and can be made to look better.
Maybe that is what Bruderheim is doing, but one has to wonder. A few years ago it had been decided to contract the public works department of the County of Strathcona to perform the maintenance work necessary to keep the Town's infrastructure up to par and operational. The state of repair of all communities in the County of Strathcona is clearly visible to anyone visiting them, and it is impressively good. It appears that Bruderheim's state and quality of repairs don't measure up to theirs and are substandard.
The cleanliness of, and quality of weed control on, town properties make an impression on visitors. It will leave a good impression on visitors to see grass cut, but it will also leave a bad impression to have them see weeds growing out of control. Grass cutting and weed control are necessary, but so are paint jobs and other maintenance work.
Some people expressed concern that by pointing out neglected things in need of paint or a bit of other attention our taxes will go up because more work needs to be done. Well, the hard and cold reality is that, collectively, we all own the town's properties. The town's properties are here to stay whether there are only a thousand taxpayers in town or whether we attract another thousand that will help pay for our properties' upkeep. However, if we don't keep things tidy and in good state of repair, we will not attract the people that can help all of us share our basic and more or less fixed tax load. The reality of that is that the fewer people we attract, and the more people leave town, the higher each of the individual shares of the tax load will go, and the more dilapidated the town properties that we all own will become.
The next photo (also shown elsewhere in these pages) shows a view of the south-wall of the building used by the Bruderheim Youth Club. I know, it would be too much to ask the members of the club to do something about those dandelions (after all, a lot of parents cannot even ask their own kids to cut the grass or weed the garden for them), but, ultimately it is the landlord who is responsible for a property and its appearance. The Town of Bruderheim is the landlord of the Bruderheim Youth Club. That means that all of us share the responsibilities that come with owning town properties.
Some of the Bruderheim Bylaws
3.5 Conditions constituting a Nuisance, danger and/or Unsightly Premise may include but shall not be limited to:
the accumulation of rubbish, Refuse or other waste products on Property;
uncut grass or the presence of weeds, which in the opinion of the Bylaw enforcement officer, are excessive or which demonstrate neglect by the Owner;
the accumulation of animal material, yard material, ashes or scrap building material;
the accumulation of Abandoned Vehicle(s), Abandoned Equipment or household appliances;
the presence or accumulation of animal carcasses, hazardous materials, noxious fumes, manure or sewage;
the presence of trees, shrubs, weeds or other vegetation which as a result of its location on the Property has caused or is causing damage to adjacent Property, including Public Lands;
the failure to dispose of Refuse or other waste products accumulating in temporary storage containers upon the Property;
the lack of repair or maintenance of buildings, structures or Property, including but not limited to:
the significant deterioration of buildings, structures or improvements, or portions of buildings, structures or improvements;
Broken or missing widows, siding, shingles, shutters, eaves or other building material; or
significant fading, chipping or peeling of painted areas of buildings, structures or improvements of Property.
the presence of excavations, structures, materials or any other hazard or condition which poses a danger to public safety.
4. SECTION 4 — MAINTENANCE STANDARDS IN THE TOWN
4.1 All buildings, structures and improvements to Property in the Town shall be maintained so that:
2.18 "Reasonable State of Repair" means the condition of being:
Structurally sound;
free from damage;
free from rot or other deterioration; and
safe for its intended use.
Source: Bylaw 735-2002
Can you spot the bylaw violations in the photos shown below?
(Clicking on some of the photos shown below will take you to a more detailed page containing more details and a discussion of the issues a given photo relates to.)
Perhaps the Town thinks that by letting the crop of weeds coming up on that property the lack of garbage clean-up will be hidden from view, but that is not working too well.
Deteriorating shingles, a rotting awning that had already some pieces fall off it, broken windows, noxious weeds, grass not cut, and peeling paint. (Peeling paint? What paint? The paint on the boards on the gable is completely peeled off. None remains.) All of those issues are nuisance bylaw violations. As far as I know, this property is owned by the Town. What is the problem? It seems to be a case of "Don't do as we do. Do as we say." Does the scope of "All buildings, structures and improvements to Property in the Town" not include properties owned by the Town? Come on guys, the ownership of property brings with it responsibilities and duties!
By the way, Everett Grant told me that he had inquired, in writing, with the Town administration just about exactly a year ago as to whether he could buy that property shown in the last photo shown above. He has a knack for making old and dilapidated properties useful and making them look good. Just take a look at the small motel he made out of the old lumber yard on the south side of the rail road tracks. When he wanted to remodel the lumber yard, to turn it into a motel, the people in the Town Office did everything they could do to throw up roadblocks to his plan. Everett Grant succeeded with his plan, in spite of everything the Town Office did in attempts to prevent him from succeeding.
This time, when Everett Grant inquired about the old property on 48th Ave that is being used by some kids in our town to party in and who knows for what else, the Town Office gave him not even the courtesy of a response, neither verbally nor in writing. Come on, guys, let's make it possible to turn the 48th Ave property into something useful. Would you rather have the public property on 48th Ave turned into a dilapidated crack house for kids to wreck, and to wreck kids, than to have Everett Grant turn that property into another jewel in our town?
What do you want, crime or prosperity?
Does the Town-Office staff take pride in their beautiful location? Manitoba Maples growing in the crack between the parking area in the back and the foundation for the building will eventually cause serious structural damage. What is being done to protect the investment the residents of Bruderheim made for their staff? (More photos of the weeds growing on the Town Office property)
