ATHABASCA - Athabasca County enforcement services responded to 315 complaints in 2020, just slightly more than 307 in 2019, but compliance orders for community standards regarding unkept lawns and dog bylaw complaints alone had significant fluctuations.
Community peace officer Kevin Rowan provided his 2020 year-end report to Athabasca County councillors Jan. 27, as they met for their monthly Agricultural Service Board meeting, and along with the stats he delivered on the 509 total incidents he responded to, he also let them in on what he has planned for positive community engagement in the upcoming months.
“I can definitely say that I was busy for 2020, my first full year working for the county,” he said. “After completing my report, I found a few interesting and a few surprising numbers actually.”
One of those was community standards complaints. While there were only 29 community standards complaints in 2019, that number jumped to 119 in 2020, which Rowan attributed to more proactive patrols in the hamlets. He also noted those proactive patrols are getting harder to provide because of the number of incidents, the time it takes to resolve some of them, along with travel time — there are 155 kilometres between Rochester and Wandering River.
A graph he provided in the council package shows 150 of the 509 incidents occurred in the hamlets, and 50 were recorded in the Village of Boyle. Of the hamlets, Colinton had 41; Rochester, 23; Wandering River, 22; and 35 were categorized as miscellaneous.
“And I was also surprised to see that there is a decrease of dog files last year compared to 2019, that there were only 110 files last year, compared to 129 in 2019,” said Rowan, noting only two dogs were sent to the vet in Morinville in 2020, compared to 27 in 2019.
Behind community standards and dog violations, traffic offences under county traffic bylaws or the provincial Traffic Safety Act accounted for 135 files. Rowan also reported he handed out 92 warnings in 2020, and 211 citations totalling $45,917.
Rowan also told council he is planning on implementing more educational programming over the coming months, including a bike rodeo, a positive ticketing program, and a child safety seat inspection program — all of which are tentative depending on the COVID-19 restrictions that are still in place at the time.
“For the bike rodeo I will be working with the town peace officer and other agencies to show kids how to safely ride their bikes, and this will be taking place in the Town of Athabasca, as well as all of our county schools,” said Rowan.
Coun. Doris Splane commented that she really liked the bike rodeo idea, as it teaches a lot of useful lessons. Coun. Travais Johnson also recommended a similar ATV course.
The positive ticket program will encourage kids to follow the rules and promote good behaviour by rewarding them with gift certificates from local businesses. This will help meet traffic safety goals, and provide an opportunity to approach kids in a more personal, instead of professional, way, Rowan said.
Coun. Dwayne Rawson recommended including a space for the parents’ phone number and to call them in front of the child who has been ticketed for their good deed.
“It just goes to really nail down that program. It's good to phone a parent or guardian right in front of the kid, it's just excellent for communications,” he said.
Positive tickets could be handed out for helping a friend, picking up litter, or wearing a helmet, for example.
Rowan is also working to implement a child safety seat program for parents to learn about proper and safe installation and the legal requirements surrounding them.
Rawson also advised Rowan team up with the public health unit for the program, and perhaps look at the first day of school as a potential date.
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