By Abby Cameron

EAST HANTS: Property owners making an effort to clean up their dangerous or unsightly premises could be getting a financial break.

But that’s not what the Planning and Development Department with the Municipality of East Hants had in mind when they made a presentation at the December executive committee of council meeting. Originally, the department wanted to continue charging a tipping fee at the Georgefield Waste Management Centre for those residents who hired a private hauling company to help clean-up an unsightly property.

However, CAO Ian Glasgow says he often takes calls from property owners requesting the tipping fee be waived to help keep clean-up costs at a minimum for property owners after their properties have been dumped on illegally. He wants to know when it is okay for him to waive the fees and when it isn’t.

“Folks keep putting in front of me questions that I can’t answer, I’ll be asked if I’m prepared to waive tipping fees under circumstance and I don’t have an answer,” explained Glasgow. “I need guidance.”

Project Planner, Debbie Uloth, presented a report during the Dec. 8, meeting outlining the department’s plan to keep a tipping fee in place on property owners of unsightly properties who hire a commercial hauler, or their property gets to the point where the municipality has to step in and clean up the property.

“Staff believes that property owners who receive a dangerous or unsightly property order to clean up the property should be charged tipping fees if they hire commercial haulers to complete the work,” she explained. “Municipal staff also feels that tipping fees should be charged where the municipality hires a hauler to clean up the property. In these instances, the tipping fees would be charged against the property owners (tax) account. Residents who clean up the property themselves will not be charged a tipping fee because residents of East Hants are not charged tipping fees, but haulers and contractors are.”

That explanation didn’t sit well with councillors. Rawdon representative Eleanor Roulston does not feel property owners should be charged any additional fees.

“There are a lot of cases, and circumstances where the land owner did not intend for the property to get in that situation, it happened over a period of time,” she said. “In many cases, these residents are sometimes elderly, sometimes they are not physically able to maintain the property the way they would like to and that’s contributed.

“They have no option but to hire someone to do this work for them and that’s already quite a financial amount. That’s punishment for these folks for letting their place get to this state. It’s costing them to hire someone to clean it up.”

For those reasons, Roulston says she simply cannot support the policy in place that charges tipping fees.

“I really don’t think those tax-paying residents should have to pay tipping fees on top of (cleanup). It would be more discouraging to folks who are trying to comply with the bylaw.”

Uloth says waiving the fee was considered, but staff believed the fee should remain in place.

“One thought is that if the tipping fees are waived, the municipality would receive more voluntary compliance, which would be used as an incentive to offer property owners who are under an order to clean up the property, much the same as the derelict vehicle program where cars are removed from the property at no charge,” said Uloth. “Staff decided not to recommend waiving the tipping fees at this time because of issues regarding potential lost revenue and the idea that waiving tipping fees would be rewarding property owners who allow their properties to become unsightly.”

But Roulston doesn’t see waiving the fee as a reward. In fact, she thinks the fee would actually hinder more people from cleaning up their properties.

“I see it as a disincentive for somebody doing something that we want them to do,” she said.

In the end, Glasgow clarified he doesn’t care which way council decides to go in regards to the fee; he just needs something in place so he can properly inform callers of the policy in place.

“I can administer either one. The last time I was asked to do it I felt sufficiently uncomfortable,” he said. “If we have a policy, you give me the authority to do this or to tell me not to do it. This gray area is just unacceptable.”

The matter was once again before council during the Jan. 19, executive committee of council meeting, where staff presented a revised policy.

“The purpose of the tipping fee policy is to bring clarity to municipal staff as when the tipping fee can be waived,” said Uloth. “Tipping fees will not be charged to commercial haulers that are hired to clean up a property which has been determined by the Municipality of East Hants to be dangerous or unsightly, whether or not an order has been issued to clean up the property.

“All commercial haulers that have been hired to clean dangerous or unsightly properties must present documentation from the municipality of East Hants to municipal staff at the East Hants Waste Management Centre indicating what property the waste has been collected from and that the property has been determined to be dangerous or unsightly by the municipality.”

Stephen King, one of the public members of the Planning Advisory Committee, doesn’t agree with having a policy in place.

“You’re almost getting a bonus for just letting it go and not abiding by the law,” he said.

But, Director of Planning, John Woodford, says he doesn’t see it that way and adds he feels it acts as an enticement for the owners of an unsightly property to do a clean-up.

“The rationale was that it’s now the municipality that’s triggering the clean-up and whether somebody has the financial capability of doing it or not, you’re triggering it, you’re the ones asking them to do it,” Woodford told councillors. “The other thing it does is gets better voluntary compliance before we get a court order or send somebody a letter to clean up their property.”

Councillors passed the tipping fee policy, which will see tipping fees waived for commercial haulers who have been hired to clean up dangerous and unsightly premises.

acameron@enfieldweeklypress.com