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Council updates St. Thomas noise bylaw
Dan Brown • The London Free Press
St. Thomas city hall (File photo)
St. Thomas council did a bit of necessary housekeeping Monday evening when it took up the updating of the city's noise bylaw.
Mayor Joe Preston said Tuesday the current bylaw has been in place for some time, possibly extending as far back as the early 1990s – or even deeper into the past.
Council updates St. Thomas noise bylaw Back to video
"It's really to replace the old noise bylaw and nuisance bylaw," Preston explained. It is being revamped to match new provincial wording and make it legally enforceable.
The ordinance has language that addresses complaints about "yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling or singing."
Coun. Jim Herbert asked city staff to walk him through the process of lodging a complaint, saying if a neighbour was holding a wild party, what would he do?
City manager Wendell Graves explained a "flow" has been set up to deal with complaints. Depending on the time of day, either a bylaw officer or police would follow up.
"Does the bylaw officer have the right to issue someone a ticket?" Coun. Gary Clarke asked. "They can write tickets," came the answer from Graves.
Clarke also asked if the same standard currently in place for unwanted noise would still apply under the new bylaw.
"For the most part, yes, that's absolutely true," Graves replied.
Preston said Tuesday bylaw officers will have the discretion to deal with complaints short of issuing a ticket. "We want to use communication first," he said, rather than using fines as a first resort. "How about we first just talk to citizens?" he said of his preferred approach.
Coun. Steve Wookey thought a definition of "persistent" noise would help. "If it's a chronic complaint, there are instruments to measure the noise level," Graves said.
Coun. Joan Rymal also wanted clarification on some of the wording of the bylaw, especially how it applies at "all times," saying the measure would have to be balanced.
"I think 'all times' does mean all times," Graves said.
Deputation from Elgin
A presentation from Elgin County by Warden Dave Mennill and CAO Julie Gonyou kicked off Monday's meeting. The pair showed a video outlining the county's strategic planning process, which is expected to take two years. One of the initiatives being undertaken is to improve internet access in the county. "We are actively trying to solve Elgin's connectivity issues," Gonyou said, with fibre to be installed next year.
One of the other items mentioned during the presentation by Mennill and Gonyou was the creation of an environmental committee for the county. Coun. Lori Baldwin-Sands asked for an overview of its work. "I would love to hear more on that," she said, however the committee has met only once so far and won't begin its work in earnest until next year. Baldwin-Sands asked if it's possible for council to see the panel's terms of reference and Gonyou said that it is.
Bus song
There was some discussion of software that will be used by the city's newly relaunched transit fleet. The branding for the initiative includes the slogan, "Local motion," staff told councillors. Preston said Tuesday the branding had him singing Little Eva's 1962 hit The Loco-motion all day, which he said garnered him blank looks from some young people – who are no doubt more familiar with the 1987 update by Kylie Minogue.