Third quarter police report
A trio of homicides are under investigation by police.
Vernon North Okanagan Supt. Blake MacLeod presented the third quarter policing report to council.
Total calls for service were down 2.43 per cent, although criminal code offences were slightly up (5.31 per cent), along with violent offences (2.64 per cent).
"Unfortunately, we have had three homicide deaths during this quarter," said MacLeod. "All three are currently being investigated at this time."
Property crime had a large increase, 11.09 per cent, but MacLeod explained that the reason for this is because of "several" people, and one of which has already been arrested.
Coun. Kelly Fehr thanked MacLeod for the reporting, explaining that "of the 13 identified prolific offenders, only one that is not either in jail or away from our community, which is an all-time low, so well done to you and your team."
McLeod did, however, mention that the next quarter report will look a lot different for prolific offenders as a result of the recent.
Fehr asked McLeod if there was any more information to share about the recent bust.
"No, it is in our area, and we were aware of what was going on, but our federal units handled it," MacLeod said. "It is a lot of guns, drugs and cash off our street, which is great, and it will have an impact locally, provincially and nationally."
Free parking
After a report at the previous council meeting regarding additional free parking days from the Downtown Vernon Association (DVA), council carried the motion to receive, but stopped short of granting the free days yet.
According to the city of Vernon, each additional free parking day equates to approximately $3,500 in lost revenue. The two free parking days, $7,000 total, could be funded from the 2023 Unexpended Uncommitted Balance.
Coun. Brian Guy and Teresa Durning both want the DVA to come to council with tangible data from downtown businesses that would show the impact of free parking rather than vague verbiage like "good sales."
"It is the responsibility of the DVA to come up with stats, it isn't our responsibility," said Durning.
Geese
In council inquiries, Coun. Brian Quiring asked for an update with regards to the that began in the summer. Specifically, his inquiry was related to the recent news of an individual in B.C. being hospitalized with the first known case of the H5NI avian (bird) flu in Canada.
"The goose control program is moving ahead," said manager of public works James Rice. "It is on plan and on schedule, with the harvest expected to commence mid-next year."
Scramble Crosswalk
Quiring also brought up the introduction of the scramble crosswalk, for an intersection in Vernon.
A scramble crosswalk is one where pedestrians from all four corners have the chance to cross at the same time, to any corner. According to Quiring, the intersection of 30th Ave and 32nd St would be a great place for it.
"They are using them (scramble crosswalks) in Victoria, Banff," Quiring said. "They are successful and safe and I think it would be worthwhile to talk to the Ministry (of Transportation)."
Vernon's manager of transportation, Danielle DeVries, explained that "the crosswalks are generally not on ministry highways, so it would be entirely up to the Ministry for that to happen, but we can bring it up."
