Role of Municipal Regulatory Bylaws

The establishment and enforcement of regulatory Bylaws has recently been in the news with respect to parking on City boulevards. I don't intend to get into the specifics of this particular bylaw, but rather discuss the important role of bylaws in a municipality.

We live in an orderly society where there is an expectation that citizens will conduct themselves in a peaceful and responsible manner so as not to infringe on the rights of others. These standards (laws) are provided for in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Criminal Code of Canada, Provincial statutes and more locally, municipal bylaws. Where individuals choose not to comply with society's accepted standards of conduct, there are a variety of remedies ranging from warnings to fines to imprisonment.

Municipal regulatory bylaws are intended to define the standards by which citizens and businesses conduct themselves within the scope of a community. They generally regulate use and development of lands and property but also address activities such as keeping of pets, noise, business, traffic, lawn sprinkling, etc.

The enforcement of municipal bylaws is normally 'complaint driven'. However, the City will initiate enforcement where a violation affects the community at large or in the event of a condition that poses a threat to health or safety or causes a condition that impedes City operations. Enforcement of municipal bylaws generally begin with a warning to the offender as the primary goal of enforcing municipal bylaws is obtaining compliance. In the event of non-compliance, the City does have the ability to impose fines through issuance of a Municipal Ticket Information, taking court action or imitating remedial action.

Recent concerns with the City restricting parking on City boulevards has highlighted the importance of keeping the public informed when new or revised bylaws are enacted, and providing a sufficient transition/compliance period for citizens or businesses affected by new bylaws.

Many of the City's bylaws are available for review on the City's website at williamslake.ca.

Purchasing/Personal Use of City Vehicles

The following items aren’t necessarily newsworthy but may be of interest to our residents.

City Purchasing Procedures – We often get inquiries from local businesses with respect to the City having a ‘shop local’ policy when we acquire goods and services. The City has a Purchasing Policy that requires that we utilize a range of competitive purchasing procedures, depending on the value of the goods or services being purchased. These generally involve obtaining a minimum of three quotes/bids but may involve issuing a tender or Request for Proposals (RFP) for larger value purchases. The City strives to obtain quotes from local businesses where the goods or services are available locally but we may go out of town for more specialized items. When projects or services are tendered or go to RFP, there are no provisions to exclude out of town bidders. The primary objective when the City makes purchases is to receive the best product at the most competitive price.

Personal Use of City Vehicles – The City receives the occasional complaint that a City staff member was observed driving a City vehicle on the weekend or evening with family members in the vehicle or doing personal errands. There are designated employees within the City that are required to be on ‘after hours standby’ to respond to incidents, emergencies or infrastructure malfunctions. These employees are from the Public Works Division and Fire Department and in order to be able to respond to a call on a moment’s notice with the appropriate equipment, they must have their City vehicles with them at all times. With the exception of these designated employees, City vehicles are not permitted to be used for personal use or transporting the general public.