Councillor wants Summerside bylaw officer in place by early 2020

A Summerside city councillor says he's frustrated with how long it's taking to get a bylaw enforcement officer in place.

In the spring, Cory Snow asked for the position to be created.

The idea was sent back to staff for more research, who were asked to bring solutions and costing forward to council.

Currently, if a resident has a complaint such as an unsightly property they can call the city, but often the complaint will be sent to the police department who have to deal with enforcement.

Snow said there have been some concerns raised by the police union. He said the options are to contract out the work, hire a dedicated police officer or have an officer that needs workplace accommodations do the work.

Residents waiting

Snow said he understands everything has to be considered, but residents have been waiting a long time.

"The hope was that we would have something in place during the summer as a trial, see how it worked and then hopefully continue down that path. But unfortunately it didn't move quick enough to have it done for this year."

Snow is now hoping someone can be in place by early next year.

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