[Editor's note: In the initial publication of the story, it was stated the statistical totals were for three months from September to December 2024. This is incorrect. The statistical totals are actually from Jan. 1, 2024, to the year end. The story has been changed to reflect this.]
BARRHEAD - Speeding continues to be an issue in the County of Barrhead.
This is according to community peace officer (CPO) Shae Guy.
On Jan. 7, Guy told County of Barrhead councillors as part of his winter update.
Guy said he is continuing to work with the Pembina Hills School Division (PHSD) to curb the number of school bus fly-bys and motorists who speed through school zones.
Earlier in the meeting, PHSD chair David Truckey stated that there were 85 reports of school bus fly-bys in the 2023-2024 school year.
"In 2024, we charged 36 drivers for fly-bys," Guy said, adding so far in 2025, he hasn't observed any additional fly-bys in his patrols. "But it has only been a few days, and when they see my marked CPO vehicle, they tend to follow the rules a little bit better."
Coun. Ron Kleinfeldt asked how many of those Guy has charged with fly-bys have been successfully convicted.
"All of them. No one has even contested them," he said, adding the majority of fly-by offenders are from outside the community.
The penalty for fly-bys is $567 and six demerit points.
"That's enough to say ouch," Reeve Doug Drozd said.
Guy noted he also continues to work on improving the school zone signage surrounding PHSD schools in the county, most notably the Neerlandia school and Dunstable.
Unfortunately, he said, he hasn't made much headway in improving the signs surrounding Dunstable School on Highway 651, as Alberta Transportation states that the current signage meets their requirements.
"[Signage] is not so much an issue for [Neerlandia Public Christian School] as the entire hamlet is a 30 km/h zone," Guy said.
However, Guy said they've added the school zone times to the signs already in place for the area surrounding Covenant Canadian Reformed School.
Overall statistics
From Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2024, the county's bylaw enforcement department opened 407 files, 300 of which Guy said were self-generated, such as observing Alberta Traffic Safety Act (TSA) violations such as speeding and school bus fly-bys.
Animal complaints led the way with 83, most of which were about Animal Control Bylaw violations (74), including six dangerous dog files.
The next highest category was when the CPO was called upon to assist the RCMP at 62. Guy assisted Barrhead Regional Fire Services and ambulance personnel in similar categories on 49 occasions. He also responded to 10 motor vehicle collisions and assisted other municipal departments 61 times.
Guy opened 55 school patrol or event-related files, such as speeding through a school zone or the aforementioned school bus fly-bys. Reports of Land-use Bylaw violations accounted for another 30 files, followed by 29 Public Reserve and Traffic Bylaw complaints.
On the bottom end of the created files were offences under the Trespass to Premises Act, Highway Development Protection Act, Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Act, and the Environmental Protection Act at 20, 7, 7, and 6, respectively, as well as 14 Fire Bylaw, 4 vehicles failing to stop, 4 vehicle seizures, and 4 impaired drivers.
Guy noted that an incident often spans multiple categories.
Reeve Doug Drozd said dangerous dog complaints are not a joking matter.
"In the past, we've had fatalities," he said.
Guy agreed, saying that the six dog attacks have resulted in "some severe injuries."
Coun. Paul Properzi asked if Guy had found a place to bring lost animals.
Guy replied, no.
"It's been difficult. Barrhead Veterinary is closed, and [Barr North Veterinary Services] refuses to take animals," he said, adding that the veterinarians in Westlock and Onoway also refuse to accept animals from the county bylaw enforcement. "So we are going to [Stony Plain, Spruce Grove, Morinville, Edmonton, places like that."
Coun. Walter Preugschas asked if Guy could take animals to other facilities, such as kennels.
He said yes, with the caveat being the facility needed to be certified to perform procedures such as administering vaccines and performing euthanasia.
"The problem is [kennels] are much more expensive than vets, and usually they won't take animals unless they know they are up to date on their shots, which most of the time, we don't, so they really aren't an option," Guy continued.
Upcoming projects and bylaws
Guy said that in the upcoming weeks, council will consider several new bylaws, including an amended community standard bylaw, public reserve bylaw, special events bylaw, and golf cart bylaw.
He added the municipality also plans to introduce a new ride-along policy.
Traffic tickets and notable offences
From Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2024, Guy issued 589 traffic tickets and 666 warnings. The value of the traffic ticket fines amounted to $203,733, with the warning value, if they had been tickets, of $183,249.
However, Guy noted that the municipality only receives 60 per cent of ticket revenue.
Guy said notable offences included a driver clocked going 140 km/h in an 80 km/h zone on Range Road 40, a driver going 95 km/h in the Dunstable 30 km/h school zone, a driver going 165 km/h in a 100 km/h zone on Highway 769, a driver passing an emergency vehicle on Highway 33 at 112 km/h, and an impaired driver who was pulled over initially because of failure to maintain his lane.
Guy said he determined that the driver was impaired and called the RCMP, who administered an "IRS-Warn," learning it was the driver's second impaired offence.
"The driver also had open liquor within reach and expired registration," he said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
