Stratford Times November 29, 2024 More regulations may be coming to school drop zones after ongoing issues with t CONNOR LUCZKA Avenue and Hibernia Street Local Journalism Initiative Reporter After years of school drop zones being increasingly more chaotic, Stratford may be instituting more regulations — or more enforcement. After a Nov. 20 presentation by Const. Darren Fischer, community resource and media relations officer with the Stratford Police Service (SPS), and Amy Pascual, deputy clerk with the City of Stratford, the Stratford Police Service Board agreed there needs to be changes to the areas around certain schools in re- lation to drop-offs and pick-ups. The engineering department and clerk’s office will be investigating, in partnership with police, and Mayor Mar- tin Ritsma suggested they specifically look into signage and bring a report for- ward for council’s consideration. There are four areas of concern the presentation brought to the board’s at- tention: the streets surrounding Bed- ford Public School, Avon Public School, Shakespeare Public School and the intersection near St. Aloysius Catholic Elementary School. Most of that is due to chaotic be- haviour — vehicles parked in no-park zones, vehicles double-parked, children being dropped off and walking across roads without a caregiver, for example — but there has also been a concerning rise of aggression during these pivotal times. “For the last two years, I would say there's been an increase of aggression from caregivers dropping students off at schools,” Fischer said. “On a num- ber of occasions, they've had aggressive confrontations with the parking-en- forcement officers, leading them to feel unsafe in attending those areas. ... Last year, one of our parking-enforcement of- ficers, it was a minor assault, but he was assaulted by a parent who was upset in an area as he was trying to provide some education. “It becomes difficult to attend those areas on a regular basis; there’s calls for service and the lack of safety for park- ing-enforcement officers.” Fischer said there is also an issue with vehicles legally parked or idling on streets that allow double parking, but it is still making areas unsafe and difficult for emergency vehicles to get through. He suggested a few changes to the on- street parking around certain schools may be sufficient in alleviating pressures faced during drop-off and pick-up times. Additionally, drivers of _ illegally parked vehicles are often able to. drive off before a ticket can be issued. According to Pascual, there are four parking officers contracted to work for the city. They currently work on a com- plaint basis but have a rotating schedule for patrolling hotspot schools. This year, there have been over 140 complaints. Complaints come from neighbours and school staff, she said, either in regard to the safety of children running or people parked in front of driveways, blocking access. Fischer also highlighted the im- portance of reporting people that are blowing through school-bus stop signs, blocking traffic and creeping into cross- raffic and safety concerns walks. The service is anecdotally aware of traffic infractions being prevalent, but actual reporting is scarce, which makes it difficult for policy makers and leader- ship to properly address known issues. In their presentation, Pascual also pre- sented what other municipalities do for parking enforcement, such as the City of Kitchener’s use of an Al license plate recognition system wherein fleet vehi- cles drive down streets, take photos of vehicles that are in contravention and then send a ticket by mail. The current strategy is education, but that may change. Safety is the num- ber-one priority, the board and staff agreed, and. it will take a collective change of behaviour to promote safety. “Tt’s one of those things. How do you motivate people to change their beliefs?” Ritsma asked, before board member Dave Gaffney succinctly answered. “A ticket.” No motion was made by the board, but as Ritsma said, it will be addressed by staff and changes may be brought for- ward at a later date. Stratfords of the World committee appointment sparks debate at council CONNOR LUCZKA. Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Before the lengthy Nov. 25 Stratford city council meeting drew to a close, one last debate was had regarding a previous deci- sion made by council. At the Nov. 12 Stratford city council meeting, Joan Ayton and Susan Kummer were not granted an exemption to exceed their term limits as members of the Strat- fords of the World advisory committee when a motion from Coun. Geza Wordofa failed to get a seconder and died on the Ayton and Kummer had been serving on the committee since 2015 and 2008 respectively, and were part of the com- mittee’s work in hosting the annual in- ternational meeting between different Stratfords across the globe when repre- sentatives flocked to the Festival City just last year. Taxi-fare incr CONNOR LUCZKA Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Though the governing board has allowed local taxi companies to raise their prices, no company has raised them yet. ‘At the Oct. 16 Stratford Police Services board meeting, the board voted to permit companies to raise their regular fare prices from $14 to $16 and their senior fare prices from $13 to $15 at their discretion, changing course from the last meeting where a possible i a Coun. Bonnie Henderson said she was surprised the two weren’t granted an ex- ception, given their service. According to the policy on advisory committees, no person may serve on an advisory committee for more than three consecutive, two-year terms. There were six applicants in the most recent window to fill six seats on the committee, includ- ing Ayton and Kummer. Many councillors like Larry McCabe and Taylor Briscoe supported general term limits and maintained the previous deci- sion not to grant an exemption, arguing fresh eyes in a committee can help and, given that it is right after Stratford was host-city for the Stratfords of the World, this was perhaps a good time to open up the positions. “Without some compelling reason to ex- tend terms, I don't know the point of terms if we're just not going to bother and follow them,” Coun. Mark Hunter agreed. Others, like Coun. Brad Beatty, were frank about their opinion on what the committee does now that it won’t be host- ing a reunion, as it did last year. “It’s not like the committee, in my opin- ion, does a whole lot,” Beatty said. “I’m not even sure why it’s even a committee of council.” “| think we should not be laying the importance of individuals’ time on dif- ferent committees against others,” Coun. Cody Sebben replied. “I think each of our committees have volunteers who are very valuable to the city and their time is equal- ly valuable. Then to say otherwise, I think it's clearly just not very respectful.” Sebben further stated that many of these advisory committees struggle to get ap- plicants. He worries that by not admitting two dedicated volunteers, they are sending a bad message to the wider community. Henderson, who put forward the motion, said she may have felt similarly to some of the councillors on having new people on committees, but since there were six positions available and only six people applied, she believes council should allow them to rejoin the committee. “I know we increased that committee because of the Stratfords of the World coming here. So, whether we're consider- ing reducing that committee, I think we need to do that, plan that, for maybe next rn ar. In a recorded vote, council was split 6-5 with Sebben, Biehn, Wordofa, Henderson and Burbach supporting the failed exemp- tion. A subsequent motion to repost the application passed unanimously, with the intention being that Ayton and Kummer could reapply. After a question from Hunter, city clerk Tatiana Dafoe said term limits for adviso- ry committee members are currently un- der review and could be changed by way of council decision. have instituted a change fare increase was tabled. Gail Cossey of Aunt Gail’s Taxi and Brad Rickert of Radio Cab petitioned the board to increase fares this summer. They both argued the cost to do business was too high due to rising costs in every sector — from gas prices, insurance costs, repairs, licencing, cleaning and more. Tony Rebelo of Stratford City Cabs was the lone holdout, arguing the financial strain on their customers would be too great. In a recent post on its Facebook page an- nouncing it would not be raising its fare pric- es, Stratford City Cabs reiterated that argu- B i 8 “Our goal is to keep your transportation costs as affordable as possible for as long as possible,” the post reads. “We are grateful for all of you, our customers, for your loyalty.” Likewise, Aunt Gail’s Taxis and Radio Cab are also not raising their prices. Neither Cossey nor Rickert provided comment to The Stratford Times before publication. At the Sept. 18 meeting, the board also vot- ed to have a more fulsome investigation of eases approved, but so far no companies the regulatory system considering a growing understanding that it is not working for local companies — a decision supported by both Rebelo and Rickert at that meeting. No re- port or findings have yet been presented to the board or council. Currently, taxi companies must charge a flat fee for every ride, whether it's a ride down the block or across the city. The fares for all companies are regulated by the police services board, which also approves taxi li- cences.