City rethinks $500 bill for mowing 88-year-old woman's lawn

Ottawacitizen.com
Oct. 28, 2015
By Hugh Adami

How on earth can the city justify charging a little old lady almost $500 to mow her lawn under its property standards bylaw?

And whoever called Ottawa bylaw last summer to complain about the long grass at Fleur-Ange Cormier’s home might want to make amends by offering to do the neighbourly thing next time and mow the 88-year-old woman’s lawn.

Well, we haven’t heard from the complainant yet, but late Wednesday afternoon, after queries from The Public Citizen, the city obviously determined that it could not justify such a charge.

Scott Campbell, a bylaw and regulatory services manager, said in an email response provided through the city’s media office: “This homeowner has been advised by staff in Bylaw Services and the ward councillor’s office that the original invoice has been cancelled. A revised invoice for a lower amount has been requested from the city’s private contractor and will be sent to the homeowner as soon as it is received by the city.”

Cormier was facing a bill totalling $493.14 from the city for having a contractor mow her front and back yards last July 23. She explained she couldn’t find anyone reliable to cut her grass after she lost the services of a man who had done it for the two previous summers. The city had warned her in a notice that it had received a complaint about her yard and would be sending someone to do the work - at her expense - if she didn’t get around to having the grass cut in a month.

Cormier said she is on a fixed income, she’s not a cheapskate, and paid the man she hired in 2013 and 2014 $30 per mow. She doesn’t believe in paying minimum wage because “you can’t live on that” and does without cable, Internet or a smart phone to make sure she makes ends meet.

Cormier acknowledged she was fine with the city’s notice because she at least knew her grass would finally be cut if she didn’t find anyone sooner to do it. She said she ran into a similar situation with the city “once, maybe twice” sometime after she had to stop mowing her lawn altogether in 2002 because of a bad back. Someone - presumably in her neighbourhood - complained to the city. Her grass was cut following a warning. She said she paid her bill without complaint because she thought it was a fair price.

On another occasion when she couldn’t hire someone to cut her grass, Cormier said, she called the city to complain that a lawn on her street needed mowing and gave her address. But once the city’s service rep asked her name and realized she was calling about her own property, she said she was told: “You can’t complain about yourself.”

Cormier, a Winnipeg native, has a problem with the complaint-drive process under which Ottawa bylaw operates: “The issue (for the city) isn’t, you didn’t cut your grass. The issue is that someone called to complain that you didn’t cut your grass.”

The city, she said, could handle complaints more fairly by making available a list of service providers offering decent rates, and not gouging residents for having to send contractors. “I can’t afford to pay ($500),” she said before she got the news that the bill will be lowered.

Cormier said she asked the city to lower her bill to $50, adding that was still more than the $30 she paid every time she had her grass cut the two previous summers. The city warned her in its September invoice that if she failed to pay the $493.14, the amount would be added to her 2016 property tax bill - with an additional $35 administration/transfer charge.

“This is not a way to treat old people,” said Cormier. She added she was spoken to rudely by a supervisor at the city, who hung up on her during one of her calls. Instead of city staff addressing her concerns about how much the city was charging her, she said all she got was lectures about city regulations. “I’m so tired of hearing that.”

The city invoice showed a “Grass Cutting Charge” of $428.82, and an “Administration Fee” of $64.32. Malwood, a Dunrobin contractor dispatched by the city to Cormier’s home, said its rates are $160 an hour for a crew of four. Costs also cover “the trucks, the machinery, and the equipment and the trailer.” It said it does two to four jobs a week for the city but refused to comment further.

Cormier said the crew didn’t work very long. She estimates the mowing took 20 minutes while another worker damaged her ferns with a lawn edger. She said the worker blamed her long grass for not being able to see the ferns.