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Inspection puts tenant in tears, no grow-op found

The controversial issue of grow-op-busting public safety inspection teams hit home for young mother Amy Keer last Thursday.
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Amy Keer’s home was inspected partly due to high water usage.

The controversial issue of grow-op-busting public safety inspection teams hit home for young mother Amy Keer last Thursday.

Last Wednesday (Jan. 26), a city bylaw enforcement officer informed Keer, who is eight months pregnant and has two children aged two and four, that her home would be inspected. It was flagged because of high electrical and water usage, she was told.

She informed the property management company which rents her the house on James Street. They sent over a plumber and an electrician, who did not find any faults. Keer checked her hydro bill, and it does not reflect high usage.

The inspection team included four Abbotsford Police cars and six officers, who first searched the residence. They were followed by a city bylaw officer, building inspector and fire prevention officer, who conducted their inspections.

Keer said it was embarrassing to have neighbours see the strong police presence at her house. She was in tears throughout the search.

“They shouldn’t be able to come into my house like that,” she told The News.

It lasted about 15 minutes, Nothing was found and she faces no inspection fee.

Keer asked what prompted the search, and the bylaw officer said high water usage. She asked if she could see the paperwork reflecting that, and was told she would have to obtain it from city hall.

She called the search a “waste of time, and a waste of tax dollars.”

City manager of bylaw enforcement Gordon Ferguson would not discuss specifics of any search by the team.

With a legal challenge being brought against Mission’s inspection team, Ferguson recently reviewed the activities of the Abbotsford group with The News.

He said then that the team had been scaled back, and mostly conducted its work after Abbotsford Police had busted a grow-op, inspecting the house for safety faults, putting a notice on the property title, and levying $4,500 in inspection fees.

Ferguson confirmed the team will still conduct a minimal number of searches based on high hydro readings, high water usage, condensation on windows, public tips or other evidence.

He said a tenant would not be given documents showing high water readings, but a property owner could obtain them.

Ferguson said the inspections are usually not emotionally upsetting enough to have people in tears.

“We don’t force our way in,” he said.



Neil Corbett

About the Author: Neil Corbett

I have been a journalist for more than 30 years, the past decade with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.
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