CARSTAIRS – Town council his considering changes to fines under a number of town bylaws. The 2021 Rates and Fees bylaw came before council at the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
Changes being proposed to Carstairs' Dog Bylaw schedule include the following:
• The fine for a dog biting a person would increase from $250 to $500 for first offence, and from $500 to $750 for second offence.
• The fine for injuring a person would increase from $250 to $500 for first offence, and from $500 to $750 for second offence.
• The chasing a person fine would increase from $125 to $150 for first offence, and from $250 to $300 for second offence.
• Biting at, barking at, chasing livestock, bicycles, automobiles or other vehicles would increase from $75 to $150 for first offence, and from $150 to $300 for second offence.
• The fine for damage to property or other animals would increase from $100 to $500 for first offence, from $200 to $750 for second offence, and from $400 to $1,000 for third offence.
Changes being proposed to the Traffic Bylaw schedule would see fines increase to $100 for such things as double parking, obstruct a driveway, parking less than five metres from an intersection or hydrant, park on a road for more than 72 hours, park on sidewalk, having a vehicle for sale on town land, servicing vehicle on a street, drain vehicle fluids on street, and throwing debris on a roadway.
Mayor Lance Colby says the proposed changes have been sent to committee for further consideration and could come back before council next month.
“We want to make sure that what was happening didn’t conflict with other bylaws that we have on the books,” said Colby. “We don’t need bylaws offsetting each other. We sent it to committee to make sure we didn’t duplicate anything.”
The proposed Rates and Feeds Bylaw 2021 can be found on the town’s website.
