Aurora council seeks say on community mailbox locations through permit process

Yorkregion.com
Aug. 18, 2015
By Teresa Latchford

Canada Post must pay an excavation permit fee before it installs any community mailboxes in the Town of Aurora.

Council recently decided the Crown corporation would have to submit a permit application and a payment of $50 per installation site. With 179 community mailbox installations planned within the town’s borders, it will rake in nearly $9,000 in revenue for the town.

Canada Post is expected to begin installing the boxes that will eliminate door-to-door mail delivery in town any time now and through September.

After being flooded with concerns about the appropriateness of some selected installation sites, including on grounds of accessibility and safety, Councillor Tom Mrakas advocated for a permitting process to allow the town to maintain control over any boulevards on which the boxes would be installed.

“I definitely think this is a win for the town,” Mrakas said after council voted in favor of the fee. “We stood up for the residents and we won.”

In May, following in the footsteps of the City of Hamilton, Aurora implemented the Excavation and Installation of Highways bylaw to regulate placement of community mailboxes.

The courts later deemed it inappropriate for the City of Hamilton to lump Canada Post into a bylaw, thereby making fees irrelevant.

However, Canada Post sent a letter to the Town of Aurora this month stating it has full authority to install community mailboxes in municipal right-of-ways but was willing to co-operate with the municipality’s requirements.

Instead of the standard $128 permit fee, Canada Post agreed to pay $50 per mailbox location.

“Yes, we gave in on the fee, but the permit process means we get meaningful consultation on each site,” Mrakas said. “We have reviewed and discussed a number of locations and have had six of them changed so far.”

Further to the permit and fees, Canada Post has shown a willingness to enter into a community mailbox installation agreement with the town that will clearly spell out each stakeholder’s responsibilities when it comes to snow clearing, liability and emergency works.

Canada Post has also informed the town it continues to work with residents to address concerns regarding locations of the boxes, but not all residents are satisfied.

In May, Aurora resident Susan Joseph spoke to The Banner about being shocked a mailbox will be installed in front of her home without consultation. She has since contacted the Canada Post complaint line and feels the organization isn’t as willing to relocate boxes as it says.

“After a very frustrating string of emails, I have lost hope that this process is fair or co-operative,” she said. “I am really at my wits end. Canada Post has chosen the site that is easiest for them, not the one that is most appropriate.”

The site in question will destroy one of her gardens and present safety issues if installed. There isn’t a sidewalk on her side of Parkland Court and is only a few metres from three driveways, making it unsafe for drivers and pedestrians.

In her email conversations with a Canada Post delivery services officer, Joseph proposed an alternative site the officer deemed not usable and added none of her neighbours have complained about the location.

Joseph said she spoke to many immediate neighbours who did not receive communications of where the box, specifically, would be located. Joseph and her neighbours are now working on a petition to show their displeasure with the site selected in the hopes it is not too late to get the concerns addressed.

The Canada Post officer has agreed to have an in-person meeting with Joseph after the engineers examine the site further.