North Battleford Director of Protective Services Lindsay Holm spoke at North Battleford city council Monday about ongoing efforts to deal with needles found at the Valleyview Towers locations.
The response was in reply to a question from Councillor Len Taylor, who cited the presentation from Battlefords Housing Authority general manager Denis Lavertu at the previous council meeting. Taylor noted Lavertu reported the BHA had instigated a daily needle pickup at the Towers and other Housing Authority properties.
He wondered if BHA had worked with the fire department on developing their needle pickup program. He also wondered whether that daily needle pickup had influenced the recent drop in numbers reported by the fire department, given that Holm had reported needle pickups throughout the city had dropped to 2,046 in 2020, down from 11,126 the year before.
On the second question, Holm acknowledged “it can have a dramatic effect on the numbers. So, as we get more and more people dealing with needles on their own, we will see a drop in our numbers without a doubt, because if they are retrieving needles on their own, they have no obligation to report that to me. So … as more and more people are able to deal with needles on their own, we will see some drops in numbers and it’s something I am expecting.”
On the first question, Holm said he had worked with Lavertu with respect to properties, but mainly at Valleyview Towers. Holm said Valleyview Towers were having some problems with dropped needles, and he said they provided them with wall-mounted units that people could put used needles into. His staff have keys to those boxes, Holm said, so when they get filled, they go over and retrieve them off of the walls and put up a new box.
The boxes themselves are provided by the Housing Authority and are not a cost the city has to outlay, but they will “come and retrieve them so that they get disposed of safely.”
