After a series of theft attempts and repeated vandalism, the Town of Bowden is making changes to the moneybox used to collect cash from people using the town's RV dumping station at the Bowden Heritage Rest Area.At Bowden council's July 28 meeting, council discussed how vandals recently damaged the moneybox, requiring a welder to repair the damage and strengthen the box's door.Councillors Sheila Church and Sandra Gamble brought up the idea of replacing the box with a machine that issues tickets similar to what customers at a car wash receive.The tickets would include a code that would allow for the use of the dumping station's services.Andy Weiss, the town's chief administrative officer, said such a device is cost-prohibitive since they can cost upwards of $10,000.He instead suggested emptying the box daily and posting signs indicating the box is emptied of money on a daily basis to deter theft.People with RVs who use the dumping station are asked to contribute $2 toward the town's costs for processing dumped materials.Weiss said in an email after the meeting that the town has “occasionally had issues surrounding theft but this year has been especially challenging.”“Although we did get (the box) redesigned to be more theft-resistant, as you can well imagine, a determined thief can break through the strongest of locks,” he said. “We are currently redesigning it and once it is reinstalled, we will remove the money on a daily basis in an effort to curb the theft attempts.”UPDATED NUISANCE BYLAW ADOPTEDBowden council adopted an updated nuisance bylaw at its July 28 meeting that includes “new standards” and “greater specifics” for what is considered a nuisance in Bowden as well as “more significant penalties” compared to the town's original bylaw.The 14-page bylaw received first reading on June 23 and council received subsequent feedback about the policy from several members of the community prior to it receiving final reading.Community members raised concerns and offered suggested changes about sections in the bylaw focused on areas such as the allowable height of vegetation on a property, artwork on a property and public vomiting.Council directed town staff to further amend the draft bylaw based on public input and council discussions and a number of changes were included in the bylaw that was adopted.One section of the updated bylaw defining possible nuisance infractions that previously read “the failure to keep grass and herbaceous plants on the premises less than 15 centimetres in height” was changed to “the failure to keep grass and herbaceous plants on the lawn area of the premises less than 15 centimetres in height.”Another section focused on the types of materials the town prohibits from being discarded on public or private property that previously read “any human, animal or vegetable matter or waste” was changed to “any human or animal matter or waste” and a new line item stating “any vegetable matter or waste other than designated compost areas” was added to the [email protected]
