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Thursday, May 23, 2013 VOL. 31 Number 21
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Derelict houses and abandoned vehicles were the source of some negative comments from three people visiting the Greenwood Motel and RV Park recently. Those comments were the subject of conversation at the last city council meeting and it was suggested a policy on “unsightly” premises be drafted to convince some Greenwood landowners to clean up their act. In a city that prides itself as a tourist attraction in the Boundary, Greenwood mayor Nipper Kettle is naturally concerned about the visitors’ impression. “Unsightly premises is on the list to address because it’s been coming up during the tourist season,” said Kettle. “The Greenwood Motel had (three people) who loved the city but had a couple of concerns that there are old cars parked around. There is a lot of that, especially along Highway 3. It doesn’t leave a good impression on tourists.” Rainer and Connie Nissen, owners of the Greenwood Motel and RV Park, said this isn’t the first time they’ve heard comments about the state of some local properties. “They were disappointed,” said Rainer. “They were driving down Main Street and when they went off (a side road) all of the sudden they saw junk yards, old cars and piles of appliances.” “We need to be a tourist town. We won’t get anything from the mines – they have their own camps and cooks. And when they need some-
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A little rain never hurt anyone The wet weather didn’t deter Wayne and Lynn Wickens from participating in the Kettle River Museum’s annual Truck to Trunk Sale held on Saturday, May 18. PHOTO: RON SATHER
thing they will to go Grand Forks so we have to be a tourist town,” Rainer continued, adding he and his wife have been voicing this concerns to council for many years now without any action. Kettle suggests the policy may have several steps to address problem properties. A letter may be sent out to the owner with a deadline on getting the mess cleaned up. If that deadline passes, the city then sends in a crew to clean it up and they bill the property owner accordingly. The plan has a few problems though. “Bylaws are very hard to enforce,” said Kettle, adding that the city’s bylaw enforcement officer retired last year and has yet to be replaced. “Sometimes the legal expenses far outweigh the costs of making it happen.” He said billing the landowners could also be problematic when they don’t pay. Some municipalities can then add the bill to the annual taxes.
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Greenwood Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Robin Dalziel said to have city workers assigned to clean up unsightly properties would be impossible with the current staff. They just don’t have enough people to do the job and then there’s the challenge of collecting the money from the landowner after the job has been done. If the landowner doesn’t pay, the city could be left holding the bill. Then there’s the issue of what makes a property unsightly. Dalziel points out that there are constitutional rights to consider and perspective on what makes a property unsightly. The issue will return to council during the regular council meeting on Monday, May 27. Dalziel will be presenting a report, which will include research on what other municipalities do about their unsightly premises.