Ted Pundey didn't expect to be paid for his volunteer cleanup — but he certainly didn't expect to be fined.

Tired of looking out his downtown condo window at a parking lot full of trash (one the city says has been identified as an illegal dumping "hot spot"), he decided on Tuesday to clean up the mess near King William and John streets himself.

But the intended good deed cost him $125 after he was slapped with a fine by bylaw officers who had witnessed the cleanup — one they alternatively call "illegal dumping."

"They caught me cleaning," Pudney — a CBC video editor in Toronto — said Wednesday. When three officers had showed up he was pleased, assuming they were there to help.

But when they handed him a ticket, he was baffled — for one, this wasn't even his garbage. And he'd stacked the boxes just metres from where he'd collected the trash. In doing so, the city says, he crossed an invisible line in the lot, from private property to a public alleyway portion.

"We have no issues with anybody helping to clean up a property, but if someone is disposing what they're cleaning up off that property onto city property … then the taxpayer ends up paying for that," the city's municipal law enforcement manager Kim Coombs says.

Pudney — who moved from Toronto three months ago — didn't realize the distinction: "I was doing this strictly to be a good guy. I had no agenda, other than that the area needs some attention."

He'd purposely stacked the boxes against a posted sign in the alley, advertising designated pick-up times between 10 a.m. and noon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Had he "dumped" the garbage during one of those designated timeslots he would not have been fined, Coombs said.

"I guess you have to be a Good Samaritan between 10 and noon," Pudney rebuts.

What he should have done, Coombs says, is call the city — which would have then sent officers to investigate the garbage, issue a cleanup order and follow up.

"We issue orders and we have to check back on orders and we have to investigate the garbage that's there. It could be there five to seven days before we remove it," she says.

She could not say how much that process costs.

Pudney appreciates there are rules — but would like to see the city use some discretion.

"Why would you make an example out of someone who's trying to clean up the neighbourhood? There needs to be enforcement and I understand there are rules. But they need to make sure they're targeting the right individuals — not the people making an effort to help," he said.

"This is really bad PR in a city that's trying to revitalize their downtown and get people to care."

After meeting with Pudney at the lot Wednesday, Councilor Jason Farr says "there's no doubt in my mind that he was in no way trying to pull off some nefarious act."

Farr says he's contacted staff and that, "with the greatest of respect for the work the front-liners who are just doing their job," he is "working to see if we can avoid the time and cost of pursuing this any further."

Neighbouring businesses are upset about the message it sends. Jen, who works at the John Street Methadone Clinic (employees do not share their last names for safety reasons) which backs onto the lot, says the officers' decision to ticket him is "disgusting … everybody in there was mad."

"We have to walk through (the trash) everyday, and a kind Samaritan went to clean it and that's what he gets?" she says.

Mike Shabou, who owns Greek Palace, shook his head when he heard about the ticket — especially since he has called the city to complain about that lot to no avail.

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"It's a big mess … I called 10, maybe seven days ago. They said 'we'll look into it.' They didn't," he says. "And this guy gets a ticket? Oh my god. I feel bad for him … crazy."

Coombs says Pudney is welcome to fight the ticket.

"Again, we have to protect the taxpayer within the City of Hamilton, and we have to do our due diligence for illegal dumping on city property," she said.