A single incident of illegal dumping has Ninth Avenue resident Shane Jensen upset with the way the village handled it.
A small pile of what appears to be grass clippings and related yard waste was dumped on the edge of some overgrowth across the street from a row of condominiums on Ninth Avenue recently. Responding to a complaint, the Village of Keremeos’ bylaw enforcement officer made an appearance on the street, knocking on doors to warn residents that they could face stiff fines for dumping. Following the bylaw officer’s visit, three signs were posted on the street warning residents not to dump.
“The Ninth Avenue residents are now faced with this ‘visual pollution’ – all because of one complaint,” Jensen said.
Jensen said other residents on the street were equally upset about the reaction, noting that no one knew who actually dumped the waste in the first place. Jensen said he was not pleased with the response he received from the village office when he spoke to staff about the signs.
Ninth Avenue resident Wilf Miller said that he wrote the village several weeks ago, complaining about the dumping after he saw someone – who appeared to have come from the area behind Ninth Avenue, closer to the river.
“People shouldn’t be doing that,” he told the Review. “I don’t have a complaint about the signs – except that maybe they could be lower, closer to the ground.”
It’s not only Ninth Avenue residents, but others in the neighbourhood who are dumping on the street,” said Keremeos Chief Administrative Officer Laurie Taylor.
“Our maintenance staff has been in there once already to clean it up, and we don’t wish to continue to spend taxpayer’s money on clean up,” she said in response to a question about the signage.
“It also creates a fire hazard. We’re trying to be proactive,” she added, noting that the village and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastrucutre is responsible for the village boulevards.
A $100 dollar fine can be imposed on a first time offender for illegal dumping.
