MELFORT — The City of Melfort’s bylaw department reported a decline in several categories of contraventions in 2025, while continuing to address procedural challenges and community concerns.
The 2025 Bylaw Department Year End Report was prepared by Elizabeth McLean, safety supervisor / bylaw enforcement officer, and reviewed at the Feb. 25 governance and priorities meeting.
In the report, McLean noted procedural delays related to enforcement documentation.
“Looking back at 2025, the bylaw enforcement team faced some challenges with a delay in the issuing of orders to remedy, trying to find clarification about the order to remedy documents, and the process we must follow once the order has been issued,” McLean said in the report.
Downtown parking enforcement remains a focus.
“In the downtown core we are still warning many people against parking in the accessible parking zones without a permit or parked against a yellow curb.”
Despite the challenges, the department reported improvements in several enforcement categories compared to 2024.
“On the positive side, 2025 saw a reduction of bylaw contraventions compared to 2024 in three areas.”
“Traffic contraventions were down by 75,” the report states.
“Unsightly property contraventions went down by 50 and tree and snow contraventions down by 55. We feel this reflects our continuing focus on bylaw education and hope this will continue now we are utilizing our new ‘PSA – Did You Know’ post format on social media.”
McLean said education and visibility played a role.
The bylaw team saw progress in 2025 when it came to infractions. The education through verbal interactions and warnings and just making their presence known in problem areas seemed to help it, McLean said in the report.
The report noted habitation in trailers was more visible this year.
“This year habitation in trailers was visible, perhaps due to displaced families from the forest fires up north. We engaged in a resident awareness campaign with verbal conversations and informational letters.”
McLean credited staff for strengthening public communication.
The department has also engaged with local media to clarify regulations.
“We have engaged with the local radio station where the local journalist has asked periodically for more clarity regarding some of the city bylaws, including snow removal, parking in the city and pet licensing.”
“We hope this engagement will continue and help aid our goals for educating our residents regarding our bylaws.”
In 2025, the department recorded 359 total traffic infractions. The largest categories included 118 restricted parking violations in disabled zones, 79 vehicles parked over 48 hours and 68 prohibited parking area violations it said in the report.
Other enforcement activity included:
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33 other bylaw and miscellaneous complaints
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119 grass and weeds maintenance files
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62 unsightly property files
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26 tree and snow sight line or encroachment issues
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Six towed vehicles
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351 traffic warnings
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Eight traffic violation tickets
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140 verbal educational warnings or warning letters
Overall, the department logged 754 total interactions in 2025 — an average of 14.5 interactions per week according to the report.
