As the City of North Bay ushers in a new era of property standards education and enforcement, local taxpayers are, in turn, pushing for the municipality to do its part.
See related story: City has high expectations for its newly-created property standards position
As summer speeds toward September and the mixture of sunshine and rain have done their part to encourage local horticulture, several readers have left comments with BayToday wondering about the state of the overgrowth and weeds along Lakeshore Drive and the overpass leading to downtown.
One fed-up citizen, who wishes to remain unnamed, felt a civic duty to advocate on behalf of the taxpayers by writing a letter to North Bay City Council detailing the "embarrassing" level of maintenance along the main arteries.
For our purposes, the author of the letter will be known as "WW" — short for "Weed Whistleblower."
"While travelling the streets of our city I have become increasingly annoyed at the complete lack of upkeep, especially with regard to weed growth," writes WW while agreeing with the other urban weed objectors — Lakeshore Drive does need some attention — but the offending summer growth is not limited to that area of town.
Included in the correspondence are the photos taken by WW seen above with the following message directed to Council:
"Do the photos embarrass you?" asks WW. "They certainly embarrass me. It's pretty hard to attract tourism or instill civic pride when this is the best the City can do."
WW concludes the letter with, "Rather than continually finding new ways to increase infrastructure spending how about you invest a little in maintaining existing infrastructure?"
BayToday reached out to City Hall and officials are aware of the unsightly growth plaguing the curbs and streets that riled up WW and the others.
The City says it has been trying to find a more efficient way to get the work done.
"Curbside weed control has admittedly been a challenge as we are only able to spray herbicides on noxious weeds and deploying staff with trimmers has proven costly, time-consuming, and resource-heavy."
Attempts at weed whacking innovation have not yet proven fruitful.
The City has "also tried using our street sweepers but to no avail. Currently, we are reviewing to determine if there is an environmentally-friendly and more cost-effective option available such as an attachment that can be used with an existing vehicle."
It's not a new complaint. Candidate David Thompson made it part of his municipal election campaign three years ago.
See: North Bay's image. It's about the little things says Thompson
"If we are going to showcase our city, the new council must make sure that streets especially the high traffic ones are looking beautiful even the down to small details such as the growing weeds," said Thompson. at the time.
"The waterfront is our jewel; due in large part to the Heritage Gardeners and their dedicated team of volunteers who provide their expertise and hard work. West Ferris or any part of our city should have the same standards and attention. When selling a house, first impressions are a key selling tool and if we want to grow our city by retaining or attracting residents, it is the curb appeal that matters."
Will the Weed Whistleblower receive the sparkling sidewalk satisfaction so desired? Stay tuned...
