[Editor's note: When this story was first published, County of Barrhead peace officer Shae Guy was misquoted in saying in Alberta the province permitted peace officers to issue road side license suspensions or to confiscate vehicles for excessive speed. This is not the case. The story has since been corrected. The Town and Country Today apologizes for the error.]
BARRHEAD - Traffic Safety Act (TSA) violations lead the way for the second quarter of 2024 in the County of Barrhead.
That is what community peace officer Shae Guy told councillors during their Sept. 17 meeting.
The second quarter encapsulates everything from the start of May to the end of August. During the quarter, there were 668 files, an increase of 134 per cent.
In the second quarter, Guy opened 542 TSA-related files, saying most were self-generated as he observed people breaking traffic laws.
"Speeding continues to be the most prevalent [TSA] issue," he said, adding the most flagrant offence was a driver clocked 82 km/h over the speed limit. "They were going 182 km/h on Highway 33 [near Camp Creek]."
Reeve Doug Drozd asked whether such an egregious example of speeding triggered an automatic vehicle seizure.
"In Alberta, there are not roadside seizures or driver's licence suspensions for speed. We are one of the few provinces that don't, so I gave a summons and told her to drive safe."
Other notable speed violations Guy observed included a driver going 107 km/h in a school zone when children were present and a driver travelling 143 km/h in an 80 km/h zone on Range Road 40.
The amount from the tickets handed out amounts to $78,177 from 279 tickets, while the amount of the 345 warnings, if converted to tickets, amounts to $85,706. It is worth noting that the province takes 40 per cent of traffic tickets, overdue parking tickets and other fines.
Other non-TSA offences
Guy also responded to 33 dog or Animal Control Bylaw complaints in the quarter and 48 to date, the majority of which, he said, were dog-related as council only approved the bylaw in July.
He also responded to six complaints under the Animal Protection Act, most of which were in conjunction with the RCMP and the SPCA, assisted other county departments or emergency services agencies 78 times, and responded to three Dangerous Dog Act and 12 Fire Bylaw complaints.
The latter, Guy said, was primarily for people burning without fire permits.
He also opened six investigations under the Highway Development Protection Act.
"That covers such things as damage to county roads," Guy said.
Coun. Walter Preugschas asked if that would include violations such as drivers ignoring weight restrictions.
Guy replied, not saying that would be an offence under the TSA.
"[The Highway Development Protection Act] is anyone who causes damage to a road, other than by driving on it," he said. "Some who takes an excavator and digs up a road when they are not supposed to or takes gravel from a road."
Earlier in the meeting, Guy noted that he had received an increasing number of complaints from the public works department about people stealing gravel from roads.
Coun. Ron Kleinfeldt asked where off-highway vehicles would fall, specifically about quad riders "doing doughnuts" and causing ruts on gravel roads.
Guy said there were avenues he could use, saying he had received complaints from residents in the Lac La Nonne area on Township Road 572.
"The issue is finding and catching them when they are doing it. The other challenge is stopping them because quads are notorious for not stopping," he said. "The other issue is licence plates. Most of them do not have them, so unlike a typical vehicle, if someone can get a clear video of them committing an offence, it is still difficult to get a proper identification."
A category that saw a substantial increase was the number of people calling in complaints about residents violating the Public Reserves Bylaw, going from four in the first quarter to 19 in the second.
Guy chalked that up to the season.
"More people out in the reserves, so they are more aware of what is happening," he said, adding some of the complaints received were things such as adjacent landowners clearing trees and vegetation from municipal and environmental reserves.
Guy noted that he also received complaints about nearby property owners installing firepits and sheds or otherwise using the municipal reserve as an extension of their property.
Guy also noted that just because there is a file and a complaint doesn't mean a citation is given.
For instance, in the 12 Fire Bylaw files, only one resulted in a ticket.
Upcoming and ongoing projects
Ongoing projects include working with Pembina Hills Pubic School Division (PHSD) with messaging to reduce the continuing issues of school bus fly-bys and speeding through school zones, the latter being an especially pressing problem for the Dunstable School.
Unfortunately, Guy said that Alberta Transportation is still reluctant to change the school zone signage surrounding Dunstable School.
He added that he is also working on creating an information campaign with the RCMP detachment to help the public determine when they should contact the county bylaw enforcement and police, coming to a memorandum of understanding with Westlock Couty for joint-force community peace officer operations.
He added that he is working with the county manager to draft a new community standards bylaw.
"We are also hoping to create a ride-along program policy," Guy said.
He said the municipality is also getting closer to resolving the old Camp Creek General Store property, with demolition now slated to be done by public works staff in November.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
