Miscellaneous

Q. There is a speeding problem on Willowdale, west of 34th.? (Mar 08)

A. Response from Police: Radar testing was done in the area on Friday March 7th and Saturday March 8th. The results are as follows:

A majority of the vehicles were doing the speed limit but there was the odd one speeding. That is not inconsistent with other areas of the city. Also in the area where the complainant lives there is 2 curves which slow the majority of the people down. In my opinion there is NOT a speeding problem in this area and again it is perception. But I will from time to time setup radar to be a deterrence. (Mar 08)

Q. Are there legal routes established to allow snowmobiles to exit the City Limits? (Jan 08)

Response from Police: The City of Brandon Traffic By-Law #5463, designates snowmobile routes within the City of Brandon. A map is available through the "Bylaw" section of the City's web page. Signs are also posted along designated routes.

The Police Service has arranged for the snowmobile routes to be posted in the "Public Notice" area of the City's Website for easier access and will be highlighting the routes in the media, through the "Traffic Tip of the Week" feature.

Q. On Marquis Cresent near the south east bend there is a Canada Post super-mailbox, shared by the local residences and a walking path adjacent to same. Could No Parking be posted and enforced on the bend to just past the mail box? (Nov 07)

Response from Traffic: I've reviewed this location a number of times over the years and informed the residents who enquired about this issue in the past that No Parking by the Canada Post super-boxes is not warranted. I provide the following;
* While Marquis Crescent may appear to be a narrow street, it is a standard residential street;
* No Parking currently exists around the entire outer edge of this crescent (similar to other residential streets of this era), which therefore only allows for parking on one side (the inside portion);
* A No Parking area currently exists at the corner (#12 Marquis Cres.) by this super-box which allows for proper sight-lines associated with vehicles on this street that may be maneuvering around the bend;
* No other factors seem apparent such as trees or bushes on Marquis Drive that would warrant No Parking in this area.

The intent is to allow residents the opportunity to park at the super box and pick up their mail. If we further restrict this (as no parking exists on the outer edge), we simply move any perceived parking concerns down the street to other residents. (Dec 07)

Q. Why are condomiums asked to pay the same taxes as regular residential homeowners but do not receive the same services?

This has been sent to Development Services for analysis and reply in the new year. (Nov 07)

Q. I live on Marquis Drive and noticed there are a number of wooden stakes around the retention area. I was wondering what is going on back here, and am hoping there isn't going to be any development back there. (Nov 07)

A. Response from Operations: We do not know of any work being done by our department in this area. We have passed this on to development services to see if they know. (Nov 07)

A. Response from Development Services: The stakes are in the pond as per our drainage study. We are measuring the size and capacity of the pond. The stakes are not there for any proposed development purpose. (Nov 07)

Q . What is happening with the new Sanitation System? (Oct 07)

A. Response from Operations: We will be presenting our recommendations to Council in November. Please view the following document to see some of the more frequently asked questions: New Sanitation System Questions

Q . Has the City looked at imposing a spray paint bylaw to try to limit the amount of graffiti that is occurring within the City? (Oct 07)

A. Response from Police: The City of London, ON, has had a similar by-law for the past year. I have contacted the Chief of Police there to determine whether there has been any decline in graffiti since the law was passed. Once he responds, I will let you know. The City of Sudbury may have just passed one or are about to as well. The City of Winnipeg was also considering a similar by-law but it is not known whether it was enacted.

City Administration is currently forming a committee to look at the problem and formulate solutions. (Oct 07)

Q . Vandalism in our area appears to have increased in recent years, is this correct? (Oct 07)

A. Response from Police: Your area residents are correct, there has been an increase in vandalism in your Ward this year. We queried the tracking sectors that are completely and partially in your Ward and found out that there were a total of 68 complaints of vandalism for all of last year. This year there has been a total of 79 vandalism reports, so far. If this trend continues we estimate a total of 90 for the year, which is far more than last year.

Possible solutions to this may be to take advantage of the close community ties that exist and establish Neighbourhood Watch Programs. As well perhaps the COPP's volunteers could be asked to patrol the area. This will be assigned to our Community Policing Officers to look at and devise a plan that would also include extra patrols by Platoon / Traffic, etc. (Oct 07)

I will follow up the police in the next couple months to see what has been done to curtail this trend and whether we have been successful. (Oct 07)

Q. Can we get some garbage cans put on 26th? People keep throwing garbage out as they walk from 7-11. (Oct 07)

Response from Operations: We will be placing a container on the South West corner of the intersection at the existing bus stop. The department will be monitoring this location for impact as a result of the container, including need for containers in other directions from the intersection.

We have chosen the bus stop for the location as this follows our current practice for installation of walk way containers (with exception of downtown) at Bus Stops and or along walk way/bike paths.(Oct 07)

Response from Operations: Garbage container has been installed at bus stop. We will continue to monitor the area. (Nov 07)

Q. Can we get compost material from the City in the Spring? (Oct 07)

Response from Operations: Presently the compost that is produced at the landfill is utilized by the Parks Department and as a result has eliminated a majority of the cost of purchasing top soil for the organization. Year over year demand for compost by the Parks Department has met or exceeded the volume of compost produced annually by the Sanitation Department. In the spring of 2007, at the Earth Day event hosted by Brandon University, the Sanitation Department attended and offered small bags of compost free of charge to the residents of Brandon. It is viewed that this event was a great success as interest and demand for compost was high. As a result, the department has committed to offering compost in the spring of 2008 at this same event.

As composting is preferred over landfilling of materials, the Sanitation Department has developed a series of recommendations with respect to composting within the Solid Waste Management Plan. We believe that if the recommendations are approved that they should encourage use, and thereby increase feedstock materials permitting the department to offer further public access via programs such as neighborhood compost programs offered by some other municipalities. (Oct 07)

Q. Can we get the glass containers (used for recycling) removed or to have better lids so kids can not get in to them? (Oct 07)

I have asked operations to respond to this. (Oct 07)

Response from Operations: In the new sanitation plan, all of the containers other than the organic will be removed. This is planned to occur in the summer of 2008. A complete plan with timelines will be provided in the spring. (Nov 07)

Q. People are speeding down Willowdale (past the school). Can we get the police to check for speeders? (Oct 07)

A. Response from Police: We will monitor the area in question and provide results in the next couple of weeks. (Oct 07)

A. Response from Police: Speed Spy was erected at the corner of Willowdale Crescent and Cypress Boulevard on 2007-10-25 and it was left at this location until 2007-10-29.

Q. Graffiti is getting worse in our ward. Is the city doing anything to try to stop this? (Oct 07)

I have forwarded this to administration for a reply. (Oct 07)

Q. The washrooms at Queen Elizabeth park appear to be getting run down. Are we planning on upgrading them in the future? Also, are they on a routine maintenance/cleaning schedule? (Oct 07)

I have asked operations to reply. (Oct 07)