St. Patty’s day a success

Although the city was a sea of green for St. Patrick’s day, Waterloo’s by-law services have announced that the number of by-law infractions were down from previous years.

“Everything seemed to be happening in a fairly safe manner,” said Jim Barry, director of by-law services.

On March 17, by-law officers responded to only 25 calls regarding noise and nuisance-type offences.

Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS), working in partnership with by-law officers, laid one charge for mischief, five charges regarding noise violations and nine charges for public intoxication.

Activity throughout the day and into the evening was spread throughout the university district and into uptown Waterloo.

“There was a lot of activity on Ezra [Avenue] but there weren’t complaints,” said Olaf Heinzel, WRPS public affairs co-ordinator, who spent the bulk of the day on the student-filled street.

The parties that occurred were overall acceptable in size and spread out enough to keep major infractions to a minimum.

“It goes back to our ‘It’s Your Waterloo’ campaign and that’s what we want to message out, that this is everybody’s Waterloo,” said Barry.

The campaign, launched last fall, promoted education on the laws surrounding drinking and partying and called for greater citizenship among all those living in the city.

“It takes everybody to be involved and understand that you don’t want to negatively impact your neighbours,” said Barry.