NORTH BATTLEFORD - North Battleford council has passed third and final reading for its Protective Services Cost Recovery Bylaw.
This is the bylaw aimed at sending the bill to properties in the city that see excessive calls for service to protective services such as fire, community safety officers and the RCMP.
According to the provisions of the bylaw that passed third reading Monday, it states that cost of fire prevention, suppression and emergency response services may be charged at the discretion of the City Manager, to the owner or owners of the property where the City has engaged in protective or emergency response services. This discretion may be exercised based on the frequency at which the protective services are requested at the subject property, the nature of the emergency response services required, and the state of repair of the property.
The bylaw has been touted by city officials as another community safety tool. But it has seen pushback from property owners and organizations such as Saskatchewan Landlord Association, which had called for postponing implementation to June 1 of 2024 to allow consultation within the community with respect to developing the bylaw.
At the council meeting Monday, councillors received a letter from that same organization further requesting more details about how the bylaw would be administered.
The decision at council was to proceed with the bylaw, but the indication from City Manager Randy Patrick is their administrative procedures will be brought back to council in mid-January. Council voted to require those be brought back to their Planning Committee meeting on Jan. 15.
