Moccasin Flats on track to wind down, council hears

City staff were asked to share key updates with people living near Moccasin Flats after council heard about the potential end of the encampment on Lower Patricia Boulevard.

During the presentation on a report from the latest meeting of the standing committee on public safety, Eric Depeneau, the city’s director of administrative services, told council that things are on track for the eventual dismantling of the legally protected homeless encampment. He said the city still intends to go to the Supreme Court by the end of the year to request that the ban on evictions from the site be lifted now that the majority of residents of the flats have moved on.

In a landmark court case, the city was barred from tearing down Moccasin Flats and displacing its residents until alternative shelter could be arranged for them. That’s under way, Depeneau said, as things are on track. This includes new trailer shelters on 3^rd Avenue, now in the final stages of installation.

“So, no change to the intention to return to the Supreme Court late in 2024 regarding the status of the Lower Patricia Encampment and its future transition to a different format,” he said. “No change to what’s been expressed from BC Housing’s intention for operating the 3^rd Avenue site. As far as we’re aware everything continues for a fall 2024 operations date.”

Presenting the latest report from the public safety committee, he told councillors that the committee has been tracking the residency levels on Lower Patricia, particularly in the section outside of the legally defined area.

“When we (visited) in June there were 10 structures, 10 campsites, that were near Lower Patricia but outside of what defines the boundary (of Moccasin Flats),” he said. “Today that’s down to one occupied structure, so there’s been quite a reduction in that footprint, which is positive, and all of them through consent and working together to reduce that footprint of debris and hazard and have folks relocate either into more appropriate shelter or released into the footprint of the encampment.”

Several of the shelters, including tiny homes, a trailer and rough wooden structures, have burned over the past few months, and cleanup work has been carried out. “Ongoing work onsite has removed a host of items over the last number of months, and so there’s much work to be done but generally going well,” Depeneau said.

Coun. Brian Skakun said he was glad to hear it, but he wanted to make sure people living and working in the neighbourhoods up the hill from the flats know about it, too.

“I think, especially the folks in Millar/Connaught, would welcome the news that there has been a reduction in some of the activity,” he said.

Residents have long complained about smoke from fires, noise, crime and other concerns.

“I agree with Coun. Skakun that this is the kind of information that we should be sharing,” said Coun. Kyle Sampson. “I do feel we should be communicating with those folks and the adjacent businesses where we’re at, what kind of stats we have, but also on the work that we’re doing to kind of get to an end of some of the concerns in that area.”

Council later approved a motion to direct staff to work on a plan to improve communication to the public about Moccasin Flats and other safety concerns.

Coun. Ron Polillo, a public safety committee member, encouraged concerned residents to attend committee meetings.

“Our next meeting is coming up Tuesday, Oct. 15. They’re open to the public and we encourage the public to come. Everyone can come, and listen, and gather that information that way. And it’s an open invitation to the media to come and cover that as well. That would be a way to get the message out directly.”

The meeting runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. at city hall.

Security cameras downtown

Another topic in the report concerned downtown security cameras, a joint project between the city, Downtown Prince George and the Chamber of Commerce.

 “I think (we should take) any opportunity to communicate to those residents who think there has not been enough communication from the city,” said Coun. Tim Bennett. “I know council has received a few emails from a member of the board and on behalf of the board of Downtown Prince George regarding the security camera pilot. Is that something we can anticipate will come in front of council? Or has the committee made a decision not to come forward to council or is it still in front of the committee at this time?

Depeneau said a report on the camera pilot project is on its way. “It requires some administrative work. We intend to return that report to council in collaboration with Downtown Prince George (and the Chamber of Commerce) by the end of the year.”

Emergency response

Reading the report, Coun. Cori Ramsay pointed to the frequency of downtown police activity statistics. “Is that something that perhaps we can request quarterly, or biannually?” she asked. “I feel like we see it once a year, and we have the conversation about it, and then we wait until the next year. I’m just wondering if there’s the opportunity for more frequent conversation around the file counts, specifically, we’re seeing the file count decrease, which is generally good, year over year, but is that because we’ve increased the officer count? Is that what’s decreasing it? Is crime actually decreasing?"

She also noted that the report states 62 per cent of fire rescue calls last year involved medical aid. “A lot of those calls that they’re responding to early on are really life-saving, and helping prevent serious issues from escalating,” she said, questioning whether BC Ambulance should be taking more of those calls or, alternately, the province should be reimbursing Prince George Fire Rescue for handling them.