An Okotoks family is expressing their disappointment with the town after their toboggan hill — built on their property — was destroyed by officials without notice.
The Jones family said the town decided to take down the homemade hill — which was about 10 feet tall — citing complaints it was unsafe, on Friday.
“It was a labour of love over the last month, and there’s no dollar amount put on it. It’s more for the enjoyment,” Nevin Jones said Sunday.
“It was inclusive with stairs, a ramp, a sitting bench as well as a corner with a slide that we had built for our kids’ enjoyment.”
Jones said his children used it every day.
“We were trying to make something safe for our kids to do in their own enjoyment of their own house, in their own yard — obviously, with all the COVID rules and policies, trying to keep our kids safe at home,” he said.
Neighbours knew the hill as Mount Crumpit, complete with a Grinch tree on top. Jones’ daughter Paisley told Global News that the Grinch stole Mount Crumpit.
Jones said the town apologized for the lack of written documentation, “that they didn’t go through the proper channels.” He said the town will be compensating the family for damages.
The town responds
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Elaine Vincent, Town of Okotoks CAO, called the situation unfortunate and acknowledged the town’s fault.
“We didn’t investigate the sightline complaint completely, understanding the huge volume of snow that fell in the town,” she said Monday.
“In December, we had these piles of snow put throughout the town. Unfortunately, the town treated it like a traditional snow pile complaint and didn’t put in place extra steps to deal with this unique situation. So that was our mistake.”
Crews did not talk to the family beforehand, Vincent said, adding that they had a list of places to remove snow from that day.
“They did not speak to the owner ahead of time and did not have their permission to enter the private property,” she said.
Vincent explained that generally, snow is piled in the right of way, which the town has access to.
“In this case, the town went well beyond that right of way and removed snow on their private property, which is the heart of the issue for the residents and for the town,” she said.
“That was not proper procedure, and the town absolutely made a mistake.”
Officials are trying to make it right, Vincent said.
“I think what they were concerned about was the damage to their personal property. It was about the electrical equipment and the toboggans that may have been taken when the snow was removed. So those right now, the town will certainly fix and repair and replace.”
Despite the mini mountain’s demolition, Jones doesn’t want anyone targeting officials on social media.
“There’s no place for hate or bullying for the townspeople. I know they have admitted that they did wrong,” he said.
“I just want to make sure that there isn’t hate and there isn’t bullying, and that we look at this as a community and make our community stronger together.”
The town will be the first one to say it didn’t handle the situation correctly, Vincent said. But threats against its staff members will not be tolerated.
“Sometimes we make mistakes, and we have to own them, and the town certainly is trying to do that. We appreciate everyone’s feedback and their passion for this item. We’re just very concerned about the side turn that it took in that we’ve had threats of physical violence,” she said.
“We’re asking the community just to take a deep breath, give us the time to work with the residents so that we can come to a mutually agreed-upon solution.”
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