The people living and working in the area around Lake Trail School are banding together to make their community safer.
A group of parents, teachers, residents, facilitators, administrators, community organization representatives and professional partners is working together through Lake Trail Neighbourhood Connections (LTNC) to combat crime, violence, drug activity and other challenges in their area.
Joe and Bethany Pearce told Courtenay council about the proposed community safety strategy Monday, requesting the city's financial support for the initiative.
The proposed project is being initiated by LTNC, in partnership with the City of Courtenay, School District 71, Lake Trail School Parent Advisory Committee, the RCMP, Lake Trail School, Block Watch, Comox Valley Boys and Girls Club and the residents of the Lake Trail community.
"The group's an eclectic mix of informed and inspired individuals working together to make the Lake Trail neighbourhood as good as it can be," said Joe. "The Lake Trail Neighbourhood Connections is a grassroots community capacity building project out of Lake Trail School funded through the School Community Connections program."
The Lake Trail Community Safety Strategy will address community safety by initiating actions in six areas — crime reduction, increased vehicle safety and traffic calming, increased positive engagement of at-risk youth and reduced youth involvement in crime and other negative behaviours, improved pedestrian and bike safety, increased community pride, and emergency preparedness.
"There are many different things that make Lake Trail neighbourhood unique, and there are challenges as well as opportunities here," said Bethany.
One of the challenges in the area is a lot of low-income housing, which leads to a transient population, which tends to lead to weaker relationships with the RCMP and among neighbours, she explained.
There are also barriers to accessing programs and services, high incidences of crime, poverty and poor nutrition, violence and drug activity, she noted.
Crime data from the RCMP for the neighbourhood, which is within a 1,100-metre radius of Lake Trail School, shows that the most common crimes in the past year were suspicious occurrences, municipal bylaw infractions, mischief to property, breach of peace, and other traffic offences.
"The incidences that happen here are fairly high," said Joe. "These are reported incidences only. We feel there are a lot more incidences here that go unreported, particularly drug trafficking, drug use and issues surrounding mischief caused by drug use, and assault as well.
"I've personally viewed and done first response on two assaults in the last two months. It's not very safe for the young families who are quite keen on moving to this area, so we want to try to do something to curb that upward trend."
The group asked council for $18,987 for one year of funding to support the strategy. Most of this money would be used for project co-ordination, facilitation and community building, and printing, mapping and information distribution.
"This is an investment that works with the RCMP and assists the City of Courtenay to fulfill part of the mission that's been set down to educate and inspire the citizens of Courtenay to participate in and support efforts to make Courtenay a great place to live and to support the community to make this city and this neighbourhood a safer, better place to live," said Joe. "It will foster a safer, healthier, more resilient community, with specific outcomes that have been identified through a visioning process and brought forward by engaged residents."
The total project budget is $45,207, and LTNC has secured $26,220 in in-kind and cash donations from other sources.
Councillors commended the group for its work.
While Coun. Doug Hillian was ready to support the group's funding request, others around the council table were hesitant to agree without hearing from city staff, and council decided to refer the matter to staff for information.
Coun. Larry Jangula noted that it could set a precedent, and other neighbourhoods would expect the same response, while Coun. Jon Ambler was concerned about using city money for someone's salary.
Hillian had no problem with the money going toward a salary, and he felt the city would be lucky if others followed Lake Trail's example.
"I think this is an opportunity to invest in a community that will benefit from that investment," he said. "I think there's a multiplier effect."
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