Earlier this fall The Drumheller Mail reported on the issue of school buses parking in residential areas. The Drumheller Town Council has given three months for evaluation of the current policies and existing complaints to be resolved before addressing the issue again.
“Council decided to give it three months to evaluate the issues in regards to school bus parking. At that time, they will look at it again to see if there are any necessary changes,” said Paul Salvatore, Director of Community Services for the Town of Drumheller.
Residents affected by the current bus parking policies cite reduced sight lines for vehicles, and the fumes and noise of the buses when they are left to warm up in the morning.
Councillor Doug Stanford brought the issue forward in Council after receiving complaints from residents.
“If we have a few [complaints] we’re going to have to address it,” said Stanford. “If you have a problem, come forward, because if, in three months, we don’t have any complaints then it’s gone.”
So far, the Town itself has only received a few and they generally occur at the beginning of the school year. The Town is willing to work with residents to resolve any complaints.
“We haven’t had a lot of official complaints. There are definitely people out there who talk about it being an issue. I wouldn’t say we’ve run into many situations we couldn’t resolve. Simply talking to people has accomplished what we’ve needed,” said Salvatore.
“We try to work within the current policies to get compliance. Generally we’re effective in doing that. If someone makes a complaint, it is received by one of our staff. They would collect as much information as possible and then investigate the details related to the complaint. If it’s confirmed to be a problem, we would direct the affected individuals to take action to remedy that issue and minimize any nuisance or hassle associated with it.”
Before contacting the Town, residents are encouraged to first try to resolve their complaints, peacefully, with their neighbours.
“Part of the goal here is to strengthen neighbourhood relations. We encourage people who may have an issue and are being impacted by something in the vicinity of their property to talk to their neighbours. That would be our recommendation as a starting point. Through communication a lot of those issues can be resolved,” said Salvatore.
For drivers, they are asked to ensure there are adequate sight lines and room to maneuver for other drivers.
Complaints can be directed to the Town of Drumheller Department of Community Services.
