By Dominic Abassi

Councillors recommend spending another $45K on downtown security

Sep 20, 2017 | 3:52 PM

NANAIMO — Councillors are in favour of spending more money to continue with short term solutions to public safety issues in Nanaimo’s downtown core.

The city’s finance committee recommended Council approve an additional $45,000 in funding to extend daytime patrols by hired security guards and a litter pick up program in the downtown, Old City Quarter and Nob Hill areas. The cash is on top of $45,000 committed in June to the interim strategy to address concerns around an increase in social disorder.

Eric McLean, president of the Old City Quarter Association, said there has been evidence of improvements since the initial investment earlier in the summer.

“We really appreciate the fact the City has taken these steps, I think it’s the right thing to do…There’s still a lot of work to be done because it’s a big problem that reaches in to every part of society.”

McLean said their members are looking forward to continuing an open dialogue, pointing to upcoming public meetings planned in the coming weeks where the City will solicit ideas from local business owners.

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“Basically what we want to succeed in is getting a dialogue open among all the interested parties to find out what the real issues are and come up with a plan to deal with them,” McLean said, adding Island Health plays a key part since they drive many of the programs addressing mental health and addictions.

The City’s chief operations officer Brad McRae said the latest injection of money would provide for another four to six months of security patrols and litter pick up, which includes needles. He said while they don’t have any data on the impact of the security, a recent canvass of downtown businesses revealed positive feedback.

Coun. Jim Kipp said while the “boots on the ground” are good during the day, it’s his understanding a lot of the problems ramp up at night. McRae said a public safety manager from Surrey is scheduled to speak to Nanaimo’s public safety committee in October to see if they’re on the right track and how to approach things from a 24/7 perspective.

The recommendation to provide the additional funding will come to Council for final approval at a future meeting.

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi