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City by-law officer Ron Melnyk looked on as two workers from local cleaning company Mr. Junk laboured carefully, Wednesday, amid human waste, spoiled food, angry hornets, and dirty needles at an encampment on the grounds of the former Midas shop at the corner of Main Street East and Fisher Street.
The City of North Bay issued an order under its clean yards by-law last week due to a complaint, confirms Communications Officer Gord Young. The full cost of the clean-up, including Melnyk's inspection and stand-by time, will be invoiced to the property owner.
See related: City's clean yard fines set to grow some teeth
The complainant, Bonnie Zufelt of Partners Billiards and Bowling, located across Main, wasted little time in joining the party, quickly joining the property manager from a neighbouring building to cut down the small trees and greenery that has served as cover for squatters.
"Ever since Midas left, things have gotten worse," Zufelt says. "The bushes along here, they were hiding behind them. And, the garbage! They drag the garbage onto the property, sort through it, grab what they want and leave the rest."
See also: DNSSAB plan focuses on 'moving people off the street and into stable, independent housing'
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Holding the property owners to the standards of the by-law is one thing but deterring squatting and littering by fining individuals without a source of income is seen as fruitless by many in policing and by-law enforcement.
And: Why would someone choose a tent over the shelter?
Melnyk says every reasonable attempt was made to reach the proponents of the numbered company that owns the property before such measures were taken. Zufelt says, as far as she knows, the property that was the site of two fires in the last 18 months is still owned by the Midas corporation. "The owners don't care what goes on here."
See: Concerns continue over pedestrian bridge squatters (VIDEO)
See also: Camping by-law to be enforced at City Hall
This is the second time Zufelt has played a role in clearing out the property.
"I watch them over here, a bunch of them, drinking, doing drugs," Zufelt says. "I spent the day yesterday chasing them out and a couple of the homeless guys helped me take these bushes down. They got the message that there wouldn't be a place to hide."
"It's so disheartening. It's one thing to put up a tent but you don't have to be pigs about it. It's hard for businesses. It's hard for the neighbourhood."
See: Local policy in place to clear encampments, offer supports
Council members Bill and Tanya Vrebosch fielded the initial complaint from Zufelt.
"It is shameful that we keep having to clean up messes from absentee owners," says the deputy mayor. "We issued an order for the clean-up last week with no response from the owner. Now we have to step in again, clean it up and put it on their taxes."
See: Council approves tougher fines to enforce clean yards by-law
And: Council discusses transient homeless population sent to access North Bay's 'hub' of services
Bill Vrebosch says the mental health and addiction issues are bigger than what municipalities can handle.
"We need the intervention from provincial and federal levels. We also need to look at needles. Who gives them out, why aren't they picking them up and at what point does the safety of the average person get recognized? We shouldn't have to wait for an innocent person to step on a needle before something is done. It's time to weigh and balance the rights and safety of all citizens."
Zufelt is hopeful this intervention will help matters. "They've been using nearby driveways as a bathroom at 11 in the morning. The day before yesterday, somebody was over there taking a crap. It's out of hand. If we can get this clean and stay on top of it, they will move on to another area. It's just become such a condensed area with all the problems. We're not going to sit idle and do nothing about it."
