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Making a racket? Prepare to pay

St. Clements passes noise bylaw

By: Bill Redekop

Monday, Sep. 10, 2012 at 8:41 AM | Comments: 0

JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES Enlarge Image

A recent Washington Post travel article noted Manitoba's fields of sunflowers.

Noise makers will have to start forking over cash -- fines of up to $500 -- after the RM of St. Clements recently passed one of the toughest noise bylaws in the province.

The RM's new bylaw seeks to "prohibit all loud, unnecessary or unusual noises, or any noise which annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or welfare of inhabitants."

Nuisance noise at any hour includes "loud, blasphemous, abusive, obscene or insulting language, or singing or shouting or speaking in a boisterous manner." It also includes music from a loudspeaker.

Reeve Steve Strang said the bylaw was prompted by complaints about activities such as fireworks, partying, playing music and operating ATVs. Noise from fireworks has emerged as a big complaint this summer.

St. Clements borders the RM of East St. Paul to the south and extends north, following the east side of the Red River and the south shore of Lake Winnipeg.

It's a unique mixture of rural, urban and cottage residents whose 10,000-plus permanent population jumps by at least 50 per cent in cottage season, Strang said.

"Some people go out to rest, some to play. Those who go out to play have to respect that some people don't like the same things they do," Strang said.

The fine for a first offence is $100, $200 for a second offence and $500 a third time. Default can result in up to 30 days imprisonment.

The St. Clements council really wants to be able to slap fines of all types onto people's property taxes when people don't pay. Strang said some jurisdictions have done so but the practise hasn't been challenged in court. St. Clements is in discussions with the province about toughening provincial legislation to make it happen.

One of the biggest bills municipalities sometimes face is cleanup of a property that has turned into a junkyard, he said.

The RM council passed the noise bylaw in June but bylaw officers haven't seen a big uptick in complaints so far, Strang said. Offenders usually get a warning the first time, he said. Residents can call a 24-hour answering service with complaints.

St. Clements was also one of the first municipalities to introduce tough ATV-control legislation a couple years ago, which allows the RM to seize vehicles when they're used illegally.

-- -- --

The Washington Post showed us some love recently. "Winnipeg doesn't waste time shifting from city to country," wrote travel writer Andrea Sachs. "One minute I was passing strip malls, the next I was deep in sunflower and canola fields that glowed Gatorade yellow." Sachs was positive about her trip, which included the train run to Churchill and visits to The Forks and the Winnie the Pooh exhibit at Assiniboine Park. She also included an iconic photo of the white cliffs of Steep Rock.

-- -- --

Add Century Cinema in Kenora to the list of small theatres that have converted to digital. Some small rural theatres are expected to close rather than pay $80,000 for new digital equipment as the movie industry phases out film this year. Most threatened are drive-in theatres.

There has been no word yet on whether Manitoba's three remaining drive-in theatres -- in Morden, Killarney and Flin Flon -- showed their last flicks on the Labour Day weekend.

-- -- --

Oil money continues to gush in southwestern Manitoba. Families in the area raked in a whopping $218 million in royalties from oil last year. The province? It took in just $42 million. Both are records. The region is unique because many farm families hold mineral rights on land. That's because the area was settled before the 1880s, when mineral rights became the property of provincial governments.

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Village of Dunnottar Mayor Rick Gamble says there's no truth to speculation that chief administrator Janice Thevenot was made a scapegoat for the council's sewage system referendum defeat this summer. In July, property owners voted 901 to 377 to reject a new sewage system being pushed by village council.

Thevenot is leaving the Dunnottar office to take a similar post in southwestern Manitoba. The position pays better and that has pension implications for Thevenot, who is nearing the end of her career, Gamble said.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca

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