Community Safety Co-ordinator Herb Sutton provided his monitoring report for January 2019 to North Battleford city council Monday, Jan. 25. Here are a few highlights from that report.
Community Leader Network
In his report, Sutton welcomed the involvement of businessman/philanthropist Brett Wilson in various initiatives in the city recently.
Sutton said Wilson has been engaged with the community since last spring in such things as the multi-government steering coalition and the Planet Youth initiative aimed at curbing teenage drug addiction. Planet Youth stems from efforts in an Iceland community 20 years ago that have been successful.
A team from North Battleford will go to a Planet Youth conference scheduled for March. Sutton has committed to going as well.
“Brett Wilson and his team are looking for ways to make significant sustainable long-term changes in the community,” said Sutton, who adds Wilson was heard to say he is “not interested in writing a check and walking away.”
“What he’s looking at is strategic investment and that’s encouraging because that’s what’s needed here.”
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Review Committee
One focus of the committee is safety audits. Sutton noted 11 audits have been done in three years and 70 per cent of the recommendations have been implemented.
“Some might say why not 100 per cent? It comes down to one thing – budget,” said Sutton, who added he was “really pleased” with the way things have come together.
He pointed to the Central Park lights as one example coming from the safety audits.
He also had an update on the Community Perception Survey that has been conducted in the city. A report is expected to be ready in the spring, he said.
Sutton also said he and the director of planning and development had been in a conference call with Dr. Tarah Hodginson on Jan. 24, and she reported having inputted the data already and was really happy with the community response. Over 500 surveys had been collected.
Hodginson also asked for some additional data from health and the RCMP to complement and strengthen the analysis.
“I’m really pleased with the work that she’s done,” said Sutton, who added “she continues to do this for no cost to the city.”
Finally, Sutton noted there will be a couple of opportunities for the city to share their CPTED work at the provincial city planners conference in North Battleford in September, and at an international CPTED conference in Cancun, Mexico, on Aug. 28-30.
That latter conference is sponsored by the Mexican government, which will be covering Sutton’s costs to go there.
SAGE
A presentation was made in camera by Bonnie Evans on the Multi-Government Steering Coalition update to city council. In his report Sutton said he was “very confident we are in good hands” with Evans driving the process.
