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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1984, WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby Voice of the County Town , Michael lan Burgess, F The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitb ____ [Pub Publisher- Managing Editor y' resUideLsfo hi VEIU residents. -lisl-ed every Wednesday by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography Inc. Phone 668-6111 The Free Press Building, 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. MICHAEL KNELL Community Editor Second Class Mail Registration No. 5351 Council's sidewalk clearing policy exceeds its authority As we have reported elsewhere in today's edition, Whitby Town Council has decided to con- tinue with its infamous snow clearing policy, if only for another year. What that policy states is quite clear (mind the A weeky naWS anmenantary frOm one Of Canadaa outstanding news personaltiesl HM:ST O -UNKGMAX ma GLOBAL IBWB It was a somewhat confusing summer for the Trueman household. In preparation for the new early evening news format, my wife and I moved to Ottawa in June. The new format was launched on the air Monday, September the 24th. During the changeover, I grabbed some holidays, learned how to run a word processor, and flitted back to Toronto to do newscasts. In a sense, I was living out of a suitcase at both ends. Confusing and unsettling to say the least, but it isn't the first time, and things have now settled down. The main thing is that our old cat, who is almost 17, has taken to Ottawa as if he were a native. Now that I think about it, he is a native, in the sense that he was born there. But I don't think It's that which has made the old buzzard feel so thoroughly at home. I think it's the local cat population, or more accurately, the lack of it. When we lived in Toronto, the cat population was very high density. There wàs hardly a scrap of territory that a tired old man could call his own. Too many young bucks with big shoulders and lots of aggression. And almost as bad, one too many fetching females who couldn't see that an old guy wanted to do was find a nice patch of sun and doze. So between the young males and the winsome females, our old fellow was left with the sill outside the living room window as undisputed territory. On weekends, when we took him out of the city for a little country air, he changed completely. In- stead of being timid, skittish and off his feed, he swaggered around, slammed his feet down and ate like ahorse. In the country, he was a different cat. And Ottawa he perceived as country, right from the beginning. There are a couple cats in the new neighbourhood, but they're friendly, not pushy, and after some initial jousting, and heavy hissing, our old guy has become bold enough to treat their backyards as if they were his own. If he hasn't been let out by eight o'clock in the mor- ning, he starts speaking to us, politely at first, and like a mule driver if we're too slow about it. I gave him breakfast one day recently about seven-thirty. He cleaned it up, went for another lit- tle stroll outside, and was back demanding lunch by 8:20. This is nat the same cat who lived in Toronto, and who rarely wanted lunch befare 10:00 ,l was going ta say that he's landed on his feet, in Ottawa, and I suppose that is correct, metaphorically. But what he's really landed on is his stornach. Ottawa ta him is like the Senate: less competition, more laps, better grub, and a larger selection of snug places for an aid fellow ta grab 40 winks. He's rising 120 years af age, in human terms, so I guest he's entitled. pun): if a homeowner doesn't clear the snow on the sidewalks that both front and flank his or her home within 24 hours of a major storm, the bylaw enforcement officer will serve him with a notice. If that notice is not obeyed within 24 hours, then the Town of Whitby will clear the sidewalk and then charge the owner 80-cents per foot cleared for the service. For a 50-foot frontage, that works out to $40. The interesting thing is that under this bylaw and policy, from what we have been able to determine, the homeowner is not charged with having committed an offense. Should the resident not pay the $40, it would be tacked onto his property tax -bill. There is no appeal. There is no day in court. You are guilty without trial and are convicted in absentia. Anyone who gets a lousy $5 parking ticket in the Town of Whitby has redress through the cour- ts if he believes it was issued to him unfairly. Not so under this policy and bylaw. What really irks this newspaper is the attitude displayed on this subject in the staff reports sub- mitted to council. According to the director of public works: "the town is doing its share in cleaning up the sidewalks and the rest is up to the citizens." With all due respect, we beg ta differ. The town is not doing its share and in this in- stance is failing to properly discharge its duty of maintaining public property. May we 'remind the Town of Whitby that sidewalks are not the property of the resident whose home it fronts. Like the road, curb, gutter and boulevard, the sidewalk is the property of the Town of Whitby. What we would like to know, for this our basic objection, is where does Whitby Town Council and its staff believe that it has the authority in law to order its citizens and taxpayers to maintain public property without compensation? Under what statute, regulation, or precedent does Whit- by Town Council have this kind of authority? 4-4QL4gE >~;'~1 ~ This newspaper respectfully submits that until the town demonstrates its authority in this area, the policy isn't worth the paper its written on. If council can order local residents to maintain sidewalks of snow during the winter months, what is to prevent it from ordering local residents to clear the road up to the centre line in front of their home? We are also curious tO know what would happen if this policy ended up in front of the courts. This bylaw and policy is offensive and while we are sure that the underlying motives that produced thern are good, it is not the way it has turned out. (As Robert Burns said, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions.") A couple of weeks ago, Mayor Bob Attersley suggested that the town undertake the respon- sibility for clearing all sidewalks in the community of snow during the winter months. He noted that the town would have tojinvest in the purchase and maintainence of two or three more Bombardiers. He also observed that two or three new jobs could be created in the town, probably at the expense of some federal or provincial employment grant program. Attersley's suggestion has merit. Bombardiers do a much better job than the human back and shovel and we wouldn't have to worry about providing snow clearing services for the elderly and the disabled. The mayor's proposai would also lay to rest the town's practically urnenforcible snow clearing bylaw. It's unlikely that Attersley's suggestion will be implemented this year. Coun. Joe Bugelli, chair- man of council's operations committee has said that public meetings on the snow clearing policy will not be held until sometime early next year - af- ter the f irst gpowfall of the season. This newspaper would like to urge all interested persons to attend those meetings and voice their opinions. Perhaps then, a more sensible solution to this problem can be found. ;~ ~ (1 -A LT-tEII ~-i ,1 I. "Since we don't have a snow shovel, we've been thinking about a home without a sidewalk!" r p..