The monthly monitoring report by the City’s Community Safety Co-ordinator Herb Sutton came a little earlier than usual, as it was moved from the regular city council meetings to the Planning Committee meeting held Monday.
His report was comprehensive. Perhaps the biggest news concerned the Hub, which in the past month has officially been placed within the region for the Prince Albert Centre of Responsibility, or COR.
This means North Battleford HUB will be able to access the COR services based out of Prince Albert.
Progress was also reported in a number of areas while other areas saw far less forward movement.
As an example of the latter, there was nothing further to report about the Youth Survey and Teen Centre Proposal, something Sutton was almost apologetic about at the meeting.
“I feel like I’ve been unsuccessful with that,“ said Sutton, who pledged to continue to work on that initiative.
Sutton also reported little progress on the Community Cadet Program/First Responder Program. Sutton reported there is funding in place from the CDC to hire a person to put the program together. But Sutton recently discovered that curriculums are already in place for a junior firefighter program. Three pilot programs had taken place in the province and now it was in the hands of the province to determine which of them, or some variation, they were going to adopt as the official curriculum.
“So I’m a little bit on hold with that one, too, because if the program is there, then we should take advantage of it,” said Sutton. He planned further discussions this week with the fire chief.
Other areas have seen more progress.
Work continues towards a Community Safety Plan. April 29 is the next meeting date and May 13 and 14 are the next training days.
Sutton said he was “really impressed” with the commitment of the group attending the meetings so far and commended the city manager for his involvement. He said it would be a long-term process.
A team of four people is nearing completion of their report on the Crime Prevention Through Environment Design/SafeGrowth Project and it will be presented at the end of April at the next phase of the training, with the Lighthouse Emergency Shelter area as their project.
Updates on transitional housing and the Lighthouse were presented. The transitional housing units are all full and there is a waiting list. The Lighthouse breakfasts usually feed 15 people with supper numbers up to 60, and the shelter fluctuates between 15-25 people every night.
The Lighthouse reports having plenty of volunteers but could use help for games night and could always use some extra volunteers for meals. Since opening, the Lighthouse has served 1,909 meals, said Sutton.
The housing study report has been completed and next up is its release and follow up. Sutton’s report indicated the report “may become a catalyst to initiate a conversation with those involved in housing in the city.”
A March 27 meeting on a proposed addictions treatment court saw 16 people attend. Sutton’s report noted it was agreed that mental health and addictions play a significant role in their work, and that limited resources was identified as an issue. The plan is to get together again June 5.
Other ongoing efforts include the community safety audit efforts; the crime-free multi housing initiative; and support for the Battlefords Publishing Community Directory which will compile a complete and current list of organizations and agencies operating in the Battlefords.
