At a committee meeting last night, city councillors voted unanimously to bring the bylaw to council for a vote at its meeting next Wednesday.

If passed, the bylaw would come into effect immediately but penalty enforcement would be delayed until June 1, 2008.

Until then, enforcement would be done through education.

"I think the community ... get(s) what we need to do," Mayor Fred Eisenberger told councillors. "They just need to be encouraged and nudged."

One bylaw officer, whose cost would be referred to the 2008 budget, would be hired next year to police the entire city.

The proposal for an anti-idling bylaw has been circling city hall for years, but has never managed to pass.

After hearing strong support from more than a dozen members of the community last night, including a group of children from Strathcona School, many councillors said they believe the community is ready for such a move. Source...