The city will pursue a policy to ensure that privately owned infrastructure is kept in good repair and fixed promptly if damaged by vandalism.
At the urging of Mayor Nolan Crouse, council unanimously agreed to direct city manager Bill Holtby to prepare a recommendation by Jan. 31, 2012.
Crouse has his sights on improving the condition of infrastructure like transformer boxes, bus benches, light poles, mailboxes, newspaper boxes and advertising signs.
“I believe that what we need to do is raise the standard of expectation, Crouse said.
In his travels around the city, Crouse often sees infrastructure that’s in need of repair, he said. He thinks that, in the absence of a high standard for appearance, things are left in disrepair, which invites more graffiti, vandalism and crime.
He subscribes to the broken window theory, which states that a vandalized property, if left unrepaired, invites other vandalism.
One of council’s priorities is to develop a neighbourhood cleanliness program, Crouse noted in an address to council Monday.
The new policy is to include reporting processes for non-employees like transit drivers and postal couriers who view the city daily.
The city has a community standards bylaw but that applies mainly to derelict homes and properties, said city manager Bill Holtby. Properties are usually quite run down before the city gets involved, he said.
The issue of unsightly infrastructure comes up in many different ways, said Coun. Cam MacKay. When he was door-knocking in neighbourhoods, he’d encounter residents who had an issue with a utility company but felt they had no way of dealing with it.
“These residents have an issue that’s of particular importance to them but they don’t have any clout on their own to call any of these big companies to deal with them. If we can provide a way to resolve that … that would be great,” MacKay said.
He thinks there are other benefits from being more demanding of well-kept facilities.
“One of the other things that I think we need to do in conjunction with that is just open up a dialogue with some of these companies, that we have a relationship built with them, so it’s not all confrontational but we’re working with them and we understand some of their issues,” he said.
“Right now we don’t have any dialogue and we don’t have any communication so I’m sure a lot of these things just get put on the back burner.”
