Council rejects city hall fence proposal A staff proposal to build a $400,0000 fence around parking lots at City Hall was rejected by councillors at this week’s finance and audit committee meeting.
The proposal stemmed from safety concerns by city staff who have been threatened and say the parking lot is “a thoroughfare of drug dealers” driving through as they cut between Wesley Street and the Overdose Prevention Site on Victoria Road, said Dave LaBerge, director of public safety for the city.
“Drug dealing or drug use, fires, graffiti. We've had damage to our buildings and our infrastructure,” he said. “We've had our heat pumps stripped out, thousands of dollars [of damage] for a small amount of recyclables. Our staff have been harassed and intimidated.”
LaBerge said that in one incident, a young employee arrived at work to find a person passed out in front of the city's Service And Resource Centre with their clothes on fire. “She had to douse them with her soft drink that she was carrying,” he said.
LaBerge said that in recent weeks, tensions between rival drug dealers in the area have led to “several incidents of significant violence” and police and community safety officers “are routinely finding bear spray, knives, brass knuckles and firearms on the street.”
When it comes to occupational safety of city staff, “we’re not talking about trips and falls and sprains and slippery surfaces,” he said, adding that one recent incident involved a firearm.
Large fires have been set in the doorway to the mayor's office as well.
“It was remarkable that it didn’t burn the building down,” LaBerge said.
In another incident caught on CCTV, a girl was pinned down and beaten with a hose and then menaced with a knife in an attack “that went on for minutes and minutes.”
LaBerge said the incidents show “a real and present risk not only to our staff safety, but the public that accesses these facilities.”
Coun. Hilary Eastmure said building a fence would just change how people are moving around the building and not solve the problems. “Well be back here talking about a bigger perimeter fence, which goes against everything I believe in as far as public access. I really think it is just going to move the problem five feet sideways.”
Coun. Janice Perrino said she recognizes the danger that staff face but is unsupportive of the proposal.
“Until we take care of our community, I can’t support this. Until we get this [Overdose Prevention Site] closed, I can’t support this,” Perrino said.
Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog said he’s also not convinced that a fence would be “value for money.” He said he “can’t work on the premise that our social disorder is going to continue like this” and said putting up the fence would send a message that “it’s going to continue and potentially get worse.”
A motion to take no action on the proposal for the fence passed unanimously.
Drop-in hub funding to be extended until next spring
Also at the finance committee meeting, a proposal to provide bridge funding for the city’s only daytime drop-in centre at 55 Victoria Rd. passed after neighbourhood residents spoke out about ongoing safety concerns around the building.
A motion for a staff report on relocation plans in the fall was also approved. Coun. Eastmure said she would like to see a purpose-built drop-in hub “that actually has all of the services that are required, such as proper showers and bathrooms.”
On the schedule
The next city council meeting is scheduled on Monday, July 21 at 7 p.m. in the Shaw Auditorium of the Vancouver Island Conference Centre.
On the agenda:
The mayor presenting Shirley Lance with the Patron of the City Award. A presentation on the 2024 point-in-time count which measures homelessness in Nanaimo. The Drop-In Hub update will be addressed separately from other consent items on the agenda and will include a delegation by a resident who lives near the building. There will also be delegations from the Central Vancouver Island Multicultural Society and the Newcastle Community Association.
Reports include an update on the city’s “Build for the Future” plan, a report to clarify the city’s off-street parking bylaw, a report on requests from neighbourhood associations, a proposed communication tower on Jinglepot Road, the best option to expand the Home Energy Retrofit Financing Program, a $10,000 grant to repair the gutters of St. Andrews United Church, funding for crosswalks and the usual development permits that are the bread and butter of city council meetings.
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