Efforts to tackle issues in downtown New Westminster could cost more than $4 million.
In October 2021, city council endorsed the Downtown Livability Strategy, which recommended immediate- and short-term actions on several fronts: improved general cleanliness and enhanced access to 24/7 public toilets; enhanced homeless outreach and added emergency shelter capacity; opioid epidemic and illicit drug response; business support and engagement; and mental health response and support.
Lisa Spitale, chief administrative officer, said the city is trying to address the challenges in the downtown in order to improve the livability for area businesses and residents, while also serving the needs of the city's most vulnerable populations in a compassionate way.
“Many of these challenges fall under the jurisdiction and the mandate of the provincial government. Notwithstanding, several of the actions in the strategy have been operationalized under existing city departmental budgets and city staff work programs,” she told council Monday. “In order to move forward, significant, guaranteed senior government funding is required on a long-term basis, as the issues facing the downtown are beyond the jurisdiction, mandate or fiscal capacity of the city.”
On Monday, council received a staff presentation and report about the Downtown Livability Strategy.
John Stark, the city’s supervisor of community planning, said the March 2020 homeless count found that were 52 unsheltered and 71 sheltered homeless people in New Westminster, a number that is believed to be under-counted to the true extent of unsheltered homelessness. He said service providers have estimated the size of the unsheltered homeless population, including those who couch surf, to have tripled or quadrupled the pre-pandemic number.
“We have a sense that that number has increased,” he said. “I should also just state that unlike other municipalities, New Westminster hasn't experienced large homeless encampments, which are now commonplace in municipalities such as Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Maple Ridge, Surrey and Vancouver.”
Stark said the increase in homelessness is stressing faith-based and non-profit service providers and it’s also taxing city staff in numerous departments.
“The city has found that enforcement action only shifts the issue from one area to another,” he said. “Additionally, recent court cases and challenges limit the ability of police and bylaw enforcement to act when it comes to social issues such as homelessness.”
Stark said New West businesses and residents have shared a variety of concerns, such as: increased litter; lack of access to toilet facilities for the unsheltered and increasing presence of human waste; increased public drug use and intoxication. Other concerns have included: more people presenting with mental health issues; more camping and squatting, and concerns about the potential for fires; concerns about public safety and calls for increased enforcement; and frustration with calling the police non-emergency line and inconsistent police response.
Harji Varn, the city’s finance director, said the total financial implications to address the issues in the downtown are estimated at about $4.4 million, of which only $1 million is secured in current budgets.
Items included in the $4.392-million proposal include $1.627 million for improved general cleanliness and enhanced access to 24/7 public toilets; $0.830 million of enhanced homeless outreach and added emergency shelter capacity; and $0.110 million for business support and engagement. Some of the specific items to be funded include public toilets, garbage receptacles, street-cleaning programs and a contractor who specializes in human waste and street cleaning.
Mayor Patrick Johnstone acknowledged the way staff from various departments have worked together to address issues in the downtown.
Coun. Daniel Fontaine said staff have done a lot of very good work to address issues in the downtown. He said council will soon be grappling with the operating budget – and he hopes council will pressure the province to support the city, given its $5.7-billion projected surplus.
“I look at these projects, and they're primarily – as was indicated in the presentation – provincial responsibilities,” he said. “And we as a city are stepping up because the province has not stepped up.”
Fontaine wants to ensure that council “raise our voice” to make sure it gets provincial funding. He noted that New Westminster MLA Jennifer Whiteside is the new minister of mental health and addictions.
“So many of these issues tie back into mental health and mental health supports,” he said. “So, I certainly hope that we'll have a strong, loud advocate at the cabinet to bring some of those dollars into New West.”
Public realm
In addition to an update on the Downtown Livability Strategy, staff also provided council with an update on public realm improvements and activations that support the goals and objectives of the Downtown Livability Strategy.
“Supporting the re-engagement of the community in the key areas of downtown is critical for the longer term vitality of the neighbourhood important business district,” said Dean Gibson, director of parks and recreation.
Gibson discussed plans for the implementation of permanent stairs and “flex space” at the east end of the Front Street Mews (at Fourth Street) – plans were developed in 2017/2018 but were put on the backburner because of the pandemic.
At Monday’s meeting, council directed staff to meet with downtown stakeholders to review and receive additional feedback on the original 2018 plan for the Fourth Street stairs and flex space, to review experiences from elsewhere on efficient and innovative approaches to programming and maintaining this new public space, and to update to the 2018 cost estimate for the project.
Gibson said there are financial considerations associated with this initiative, so staff will update some of that work and report back to council as part of the 2023 budget process.
Reports on the Downtown Livability Strategy and public realm improvements/activations – as well as a video of Monday’s discussion – are found on the city’s website.
What’s being done on the Downtown Livability Strategy?
At Monday’s meeting council approved recommendations related to the Downtown Livability Strategy, including directing staff to seek provincial and federal funding to address the actions om the strategy. Council also staff to submit service enhancement requests for the 2023 operating budget and the 2023 capital budget to address the actions contained in the strategy.
General cleanliness and enhanced access to 24/7 public toilets
Lisa LeBlanc, director of engineering, said concerns about cleanliness in the downtown have related to increased litter of takeout containers and other disposable items, human waste, drug-related waste and increased burning among people seeking warmth. She said the city’s responses have included installing more litter cans, increasing the frequency of garbage collection, removing combustible materials to discourage open burning and providing more street cleaning services.
LeBlanc said the city engaged in a specialist cleaning service to address the problem of human waste and drug-related waste, something that’s been done on an on-call basis up until this point.
“When we receive a report or we come across human waste, the contractor is engaged and they come and take care of it. Because it's a biohazardous waste, it's something that we're addressing through a specialist service,” she said. “Because of the increase that we've been observing, we now have them coming in and doing proactive sweeps of downtown, not just on the street, put in planted beds, in alcoves and other areas, to cover the whole area. They're looking at human waste, at dog waste and drug waste as well.”
Enhanced homeless outreach and added emergency shelter capacity
Stark said the city has applied for a federal grant for enhanced homeless outreach services, but it’s likely the won’t receive the grant or won’t get the full amount. As such, staff is proposing a $135,000 service enhancement to fund this service until March 31, 2024.
According to Stark, in mid-January 2023, BC Housing will consider whether or not to approve funding for a 24/7 shelter at 502 Columbia St., a space that currently hosts a nightly shelter. He said a 24/7 shelter would reduce camping in the area, litter associated with the unsheltered, discarded needles and other drug paraphernalia, the presence of human waste, and incidents of fires in which the unsheltered are trying to keep warm during the colder winter months.
Stark said the city will also be submitting a request to BC Housing to fund a daytime drop-in centre on Begbie Street, as an interim measure until the 24/7 shelter is realized. He said BC Housing will develop 52 units of supportive housing at 60 to 68 Sixth St., with those units expected to be operational within 30 to 36 months.
Opioid epidemic and illicit drug response;
Assistant deputy fire chief Brad Davie said the city has been working with Fraser Health Authority to address the toxic drug crisis, which has included establishing a health contact centre that includes an overdose prevention site.
“Since the overdose prevention site was established in April of 2021, they've had about 2,200 visits. In these 2,200 visits, they've experienced about 100 toxic drug overdoses and that has been without any deaths,” he said. “So clearly it's successful in saving some lives.”
Davie said the overdose prevention site offers referral services to treatment, detox or recovery services and offers education and harm- reduction services.
According to Davie, the city is currently working on pilot project that would use fire department response data to identify people who are at increased risk of overdose and death, and then make follow-up connections with these people.
“The intent here is that we could offer them some education or harm-reduction or treatment services if necessary,” he said. “There's hope that we'll be able to stabilize them in their employment and their housing prior to them losing these opportunities and becoming homeless.”
Davie said the fire department is also distributing some take-home Naloxone kids.
“Often, when we respond to calls the users end up using the rest of their naloxone and then they don't have any naloxone left for future overdoses, so we're replenishing them on site,” he explained. “We've also addressed some staff that are out in the community and likely to run into overdoses in their work, and we're training them to administer some naloxone.”
Davie said members of the New Westminster Police Department often have encounters with people who use drugs.
“They have managed to establish some same-day appointments at the rapid access addictions clinic at the Royal Columbian Hospital, so that should somebody consent that they can receive those kinds of services while they're in their care,” he said.
Business support and engagement
Jen Arbo, economic development coordinator, said staff in economic development and in business licensing, have created several resources for businesses related to issues such as homelessness, the opioid crisis and de-escalating crisis in the workplace. A dedicated page on the city's website, recorded informational webinars, a monthly newsletter, an information session with businesses and regular communication with the Downtown New West BIA are among the other ways the city has connected with the business community.
Efforts to make the area vibrant and active have included “shop local” campaigns, on-street patios and a retail strategy that’s expected to complete in 2023.
Mental health response and support
Stark said there are three mental health initiatives that are active in New Westminster, two which are operational – the Assertive Community Treatment Team, which provides flexible community-based support for adults with serious and persistent mental illness; and the Integrated Homeless Action Response Team, which works to stabilize and treat chronic health conditions, including mental health and substance-use issues, particularly among people who are unsheltered or living in encampments.
Stark said the Peer Assisted Care Team, which will be operational soon, will see teams comprised of a mental health practitioner and a trained peer crisis worker responding to some 911 calls.
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