‘We know there is no one single solution; Mayor responds to downtown tensions

“It is no different than what a number of businesses are facing, we are not exclusive in finding that,” said Corrigall.

These instances are again putting pressure on the city to take action, which the Mayor says they already are.

“We have a number of things in place, but we have seen an increase in those kinds of activities in the downtown. Right now, we are looking at enhancing every bit of our operation that we started two years ago to meet the needs of what is happening today,” said Mayor Lyn Hall.

According to the City, these are the initiatives that they have taken over the past two years to help improve the downtown area: a funded service agreement to provide biohazard and graffiti removal services on private property, enhanced policing and bylaw presence, the new Community Safety Hub and new Homeless Service Hubs.

There are also approximately 160 new supportive homes underway in Prince George.

“We hope that it will be done in the next four to six months. We hope that it will reduce some of the issues that we are seeing on the street. Our integrated health model, we are hoping that in four to six months it will be operational with healthcare services for people with mental illness, opioid and alcohol addictions. Those are two big pieces for us,” added Hall.

Corrigal added that he doesn’t think that they are doing everything that they can to solve this issue and that the community needs to explore different options.

“The Community Safe Hub has been open for a number of months now and shown little results but it has cost a lot of money. They have also been preaching the First Avenue Project for over two years. It may be a step in the right direction, but we also know that these solutions are not working through themselves,” continued Corrigall.

The Mayor added that he feels everyone’s frustrations but this issue is beyond just one solution.

“I want the general public to know that the City has partnered with Northern Health and BC Housing and we are certainly doing everything in our power to manage this. We know there is no one single solution, but it is important for people to know that we are not turning a blind eye to this. This is not an issue that is falling on deaf ears, it is just a very difficult issue to deal with,” said Hall.

Council has delayed a final vote on a Safe Streets Bylaw, which is intended to address things like aggressive panhandling, open drug use, and needle disposal. Final approval will now be considered on August 30, 2021.

If you do have questions or concerns or need to report a problem the City asks that you reach out immediately. Call 311 in City limits or 250-561-7600 outside of the City.

by Taya Fast

‘We know there is no one single solution; Mayor responds to downtown tensions

What's Trending