Residents have a few more days to submit feedback on the proposed anti-idling bylaw for Okotoks.

The bylaw passed its first reading a month ago, and would bring in a fine for idling more than three minutes when the temperature is between 0 and 25 degrees.

Dawn Smith, sustainability coordinator with the Town of Okotoks, says idling impacts air quality which has the largest effects on children, the elderly, and people with health problems.

Smith says the Town tries to cover most scenarios when putting together a bylaw.

"You can't write a bylaw that covers every single unique situation, usually you have to write a bylaw for the 95 percent majority..." she says. "There's always about 5 percent where there's a unique situation where, for example, someone can't even be in a car at 20 degrees Celsius without air conditioning for medical reasons."

Smith says she'd like to see a bylaw passed by the time school starts.

"We were targeting this bylaw hopefully being approved by the fall when school starts because that's when we see a lot of excessive idling around schools where children are," she says. "Of course children are much smaller and closer to tail pipes and when you've got 25 plus cars sitting in a row idling it highly impacts children's air quality."

All feedback needs to be submitted by Aug. 10 to include in Council's meeting notes for the second reading of the bylaw at the Aug. 17 council meeting.

Feedback can be sent to sustainability@okotoks.ca.

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