Mediation should be first step, not the last

FRIDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — Sometimes it takes awhile to figure out the obvious.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District board of directors Thursday listened to Angel’s Animal Rescue operator Judanna Dawn-Caros talk about the good work her organization does, then began asking questions about noise from the dogs in the shelter.

Neighbours have long been complaining about the noise. In March, things more or less came to a head, with the regional board deciding to ask staff to draft up an anti-noise bylaw.

An A.M. News editorial March 17 suggested Dawn-Caros and her neighbours should do their best to avoid being subject to bylaw regulations by getting together and working out the problem themselves.

“Neighbours deserve peace and quiet; the shelter needs to ensure it can continue to do its good work,” the editorial said. “Instead of waiting for a noise bylaw to be enacted, the two sides should take the initiative on their own, find a mediator and come up with some ideas that will work for both.”

That brought a response from some of the neighbours, and at least a couple of TNRD directors, that it was too late for that. Mediation had been raised as an option and it wasn’t going to work, they said.

The situation has continued to grow more tense ever since. Thursday, the day before the draft bylaw comes before the board for discussion, the mediation option was suggested to Dawn-Caros. She agreed.

Will mediation resolve the dispute so everyone can have that peace and quiet? Maybe not, but it’s certainly worth a try. The bylaw will come up today (Friday) during a board workshop and will probably go ahead anyway, but mediating the dispute should have been the first step, not the last.