COUNCIL PONDERS WHAT TO DO WITH GROW-OP HOUSES; BUILDINGS OFTEN UNSAFE

West Grey council has asked municipal staff to come up with
suggestions on how to deal with houses that have been used for indoor
marijuana grow operations.

Amendments to Bill 128 give municipalities the option to enter an
agreement with police, who would notify the municipality of a house
that's been used for a marijuana grow operation. The municipality
would be bound to inspect the building and take what action is
authorized by law to make it safe for further use.

Amendments to Bill 128 were enacted in 2005 to support a
province-wide strategy to combat the proliferation of indoor
marijuana grow operations and the threat they pose to community
safety, said West Grey Police Chief Rene Berger.

Berger was at Monday's council meeting to answer questions and
explain the proposal.

Once the municipality was notified by police, the chief building
official and other municipal officials such as the fire chief would
carry out inspections to identify the hazards resulting from the
marijuana grow operation before deciding what needed to be done to
ensure its safety for further use. Municipal officials would also
provide police with the name of the owner of the house so they could
conduct the criminal investigation.

"It's important for public safety. It's important for the safety of
our firefighters," said West Grey Fire Chief Phil Schwartz. "If
there's a fire and they go in there and there's a grow operation with
lights and wires hanging down everywhere . . . firefighters die in
these situations. They get tangled up in the wiring and can't get out."

Schwartz noted seven inspections must be carried out to deal with all
aspects of the building - from electrical, structural and heating to
the brick work, the chimney and septic systems.

Chemicals from the grow operation can linger and pose a threat to
people who might live there. Alterations made to the house to make it
a grow op can affect its safety.

Schwartz said his department recently issued an order prohibiting
anyone from entering a house that contained a grow operation that was
partly damaged by fire in the Elmwood area.

"The house is boarded up and an order not to enter has been issued
until we figure out what we can do with it," he said.

"We've had grow ops here and they are a problem," said Berger, who
noted most grow operations in West Grey are outdoors.

Coun. Bev Cutting wanted to know who would pay for rehabilitating a
house that had a grow op in it.

Schwartz said it would be up to the owner to make the renovations and
repairs needed before the house would be cleared for use again. He
said in some municipalities, houses have been demolished rather than
money spend on fixing them up.

Chief administrative officer Christine Robinson said the costs of
renovating such a house could be added to the tax bill if the owner
refused to accept the responsibility for the repairs and the
municipality was forced to make the improvements.

Crystal meth operations were excluded from the Bill 128 amendments
because of the complexities involved. A committee appointed by the
province's minister of municipal affairs and housing is working on a
separate response to the problem.

Council asked staff to prepare a report and make some recommendation
in time for its Nov. 5 meeting.