By Spencer Sterritt

City to opt for 3 month trial of continued downtown safety measures

Dec 13, 2017 | 4:41 PM

NANAIMO — Instead of diving in, the City of Nanaimo is dipping its toes into the waters of downtown security concerns.

At a finance and audit committee meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 13, which is comprised entirely of City councillors, it was decided to provide up to $60,000 for downtown security and cleaning for three months. The decision was made after discussion on a staff report about issues in the downtown core, which recommended nearly $270,000 in various projects and initiatives.

Bruce Anderson, manager of community and cultural planning with the City, told NanaimoNewsNOW the security effort is a continuation of the patrols started in the summer and recently reinstated after being quietly stopped. The Urban Clean Up initiative was recently restarted in 2017.

“It’s designed to actually provide opportunities for folks who are in recovery with some guidance and they’re able to get out there and help the community address issues arising out of homelessness,” he said of the cleaning program.

Recommendations not put into action included dropping off more garbage cans, handing out “who to call” sheets for residents and stores and provide three portable toilets, among others. Long-term goals, which were estimated to take anywhere between one and 10 years, were increasing the density of downtown and enhancing Diana Krall Square.

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Anderson said though the money provided only covers the downtown security and cleaning, there are several quick wins his department will capitalize on which only require staff time, such as making brochures and talking with as many businesses as possible.

Many on the committee had issues with various recommendations, such as $75,000 for more power washing downtown and providing more mobile toilets.

“Some of the things might be good, but I don’t agree with well over 50 per cent of the spend we’re being asked to commit to,” councillor Bill Bestwick said at the meeting.

The recommendations had previously come before council during their Monday night meeting, when the report was quite enthusiastically received and it was recommended they dive into the details of it during the finance and audit meeting.

Coun. Bestwick said at the time he didn’t want to see the report bounce around City Hall for several months before being dealt with, since solutions for the downtown homelessness problem need to start being worked on as soon as possible.

“The best solution beyond talking about it again is actioning something we probably have in reports….I’d certainly like to see us action some of the reports we have, that we can dust off and produce some outcomes,” he said Monday.

“I’d like to see us act on everything we can and not be afraid to spend some money to improve the lives of people who are downtown and homeless or mentally ill or drug-addicted, but also improve the lives of those who live downtown,” coun. Diane Brennan said Monday night as well.

Brennan voted in favour of all the recommendations in the staff report except for the downtown security.

The motion to fund $60,000 for two initiatives from Jan. 1 to March 31, 2018 was approved by the finance and audit committee and will now come before City council, where it’s expected to pass.

Anderson said while there is constant investment in Nanaimo’s downtown, to date roughly $60,000 has already been spent specifically on boosting security and cleaning the area.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit