Pilot project addressing unsafe properties a success and should be made permanent, city report advises

A pilot-project team that expedites the city’s response to unsafe properties, including rubble-filled sites left behind by fires, could soon become permanent.

The city should add three temporary staff positions from July 1 to Dec. 31 to ensure the project continues this year, then approve hundreds of thousands of dollars in each of the next four years to implement it permanently, a staff report advises.

“The (Unsafe Conditions Response Team) pilot project is (resulting in) faster remediation and fewer unsafe properties. This will enhance the safety of the property, the immediate neighbourhood and the city overall,” the report states.

If city council approves, the team would get dedicated staff. The pilot project has relied on staff adding the work to their regular duties, since it began last November.

The current rotating staff model puts the work at risk if employees are required elsewhere, the report warns.

The head of council’s property and development committee said making it permanent is worth its price.

“We need to continue to get these sites cleaned up and assure the public that we are doing the work that needs to be done… I think it will be the priority of council to include this in the budget,” said Coun. Evan Duncan.

Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood) said the team is just part of the city’s response to problem and rubble-filled properties, and cautioned it won’t address every associated concern.

However, he said the pilot succeeded in achieving its central goal to provide quick responses to sites affected by fire, accidents or neglect, and connect with property owners to fix outstanding issues.

Traditionally, the city assigned complaints about a property to inspectors on a “first in, next out” basis, with initial responses sometimes taking as many as 20 business days.

The pilot project team now receives complaints about unsafe sites directly and begins working on them within two business days, a development Duncan said “is the key.”

In a press release, Mayor Scott Gillingham supported the call to make the team permanent.

“Unsafe buildings don’t just affect one address, they affect the whole neighbourhood,” he said in the release. “This new team is helping us act faster, clean up unsafe conditions and hold property owners accountable.”

A neighbourhood advocate who has demanded action to address vacant and burned-down properties in his area welcomed the call to hire more staff and make the team permanent.

“I think it’s great… It goes ahead and it speeds the process up because the old way would take a lot longer to… even to get somebody out to respond to the complaint. We’re moving in a positive direction,” said Darrell Warren, president of the William Whyte Neighbourhood Association.

Warren said he believes quicker response times helped reduce the number of rubble-filled lots in his area. He said there are currently about 15 such sites, down from a previous high of 25.

That number had dropped much lower last fall but additional fires have since created new problems, he said.

“Unfortunately, (when) another fire happens… we’re falling behind again. I think hiring more staff is very much needed,” he said.

The team has conducted more than 300 inspections at new fire-affected and unsafe properties, made 131 visits to existing unsafe sites, completed 46 followup inspections to address safety fencing, issued 20 fire damage reports and bylaw violation notices and issued nine orders to property owners to remediate unsafe conditions.

The team also referred 79 properties for city-led enforcement that had been identified over the last three years. Of those, city-contracted crews have cleaned up 37 so far.

Duncan said the city’s property and development department is also speeding up demolition permits, with properly completed applications often issued within 10 days.

If the report is approved as is, the city will spend $267,001 to operate the program in 2026, $272,143 in 2027, $278,755 in 2028 and $284,330 in 2029. That funding would be considered during next year’s budget process.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga