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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, M ay 13 ,2 02 1 | 2 Visit DanbyParcelGuard.com to get your smart mailbox today! Shop online? You needthiS! tWo - WAY VoiCe CoMMuniCAtion notifiCAtionS Motion ACtiVAted CAMerA Home deliveries - the safe and easy way Made in ontario The Town of Oakville has brought on more staff to keep people from con- gregating at the waterfront parks as the warmer weather arrives. Jim Barry, the town's di- rector of municipal en- forcement services, noted that starting in May a total of eight bylaw enforcement officers will be assigned to patrol local waterfront parks to disperse crowds gathered in violation of COVID-19 regulations and deal with illegal parking in these areas. Eight additional mobile bylaw compliance officers have also been brought on to respond to calls throughout the town. In total, Oakville will have 37 bylaw enforcement officers and investigators in place for 2021, which is up from 26 in 2020 and 21 in 2019. Another 15 park ambas- sadors will be present in Oakville's parks during 2021. Barry said the addition- al staffing comes as the town deals with an influx of COVID-19 rule breaking. "Residents did respond in a positive manner through the spring and summer (2020), but as the pandemic has drawn on, we've seen a dramatic re- duction in the extent of compliance," he said. "Rising tensions are adding a great deal of stress and pressure on the staff. Our municipality is also not immune to the an- ti-lockdown sentiment and our officers have had to deal with that in their en- forcement activity." Barry noted the num- ber of incidents Oakville bylaw officers respond to rose 84 per cent, from 13,290 incidents in 2019 to 24,490 incidents in 2020. He said 2021 is shaping up to be even busier with bylaw enforcement re- sponding to 4,583 incidents so far this year. Of the 2021 incidents, nearly 1,500 have involved bylaw officers attending local parks to deal with vio- lations of COVID-19 regula- tions. They also conducted 164 investigations related to social gatherings, 127 in- vestigations related to physical distancing and 90 investigations related to mandatory mask enforce- ment. "Officers are dealing with a large number of calls, and often with a large number of people," said Barry. "So as part of their job they are putting their safe- ty at risk when they are go- ing into these calls." He said bylaw officers first attempt to educate people about the rules they are violating, but will issue tickets if people do not comply. Individuals who violate Ontario's stay-at-home or- der could face a fine of $750. Also, anyone who pre- vents an enforcement offi- cer from exercising their powers or performing their duties to enforce the stay-at-home order could face a fine of $1,000. The enforcement ser- vices director said that in order to meet COVID-19 de- mands his staff is being asked to work consider- able overtime. He noted that in order for his staff to keep up with the demands of COVID-19 new bylaws, initiatives and programs will need to be delayed. Service levels will also have to drop for non-life- threatening enforcement. For example, Barry said calls related to the sign by- law and graffiti, which would see a response from bylaw enforcement in five days, will now see a re- sponse in 15 to 30 days. Council provided some assistance during its meet- ing by passing a bylaw to ban parking adjacent to Coronation Park and Bronte Beach Park from May 15 to Sept. 15. Town staff said the in- tention behind the bylaw is to make it harder for large groups of people to gather at these parks. They also said other ar- eas would be considered for these parking bans as issues arise. Barry said municipal enforcement can be reached 24-7 at 905-845-6601 or email service@oak- ville.ca. TOWN WORKING TO PREVENT WATERFRONT CROWDS DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com NEWS BYLAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS WILL PATROL PARKS TO DISPERSE GATHERINGS "As the pandemic has drawn on, we've seen a dramatic reduction in the extent of compliance." - Jim Barry, town's director of municipal enforcement services SCAN FOR MORE Scan this code for more local news.