Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Ashley Legassic

BYLAW PRIORITIES

City of Kamloops bylaw department says social issues are a top priority for 2020

Dec 5, 2019 | 3:50 PM

KAMLOOPS — As another year comes to a close, the City’s bylaw department is setting its sights on priorities for 2020.

Acting bylaw services manager Tammy Blundell says issues like homeless camps and social problems are at the top of the list.

“I think the social issues are definitely a high priority, they’re a high priority for council, they’re a high priority for our team, and dealing with and making sure that we don’t have tent cities and we don’t have that kind of thing, I think those are the important pieces,” Blundell says.

In the third quarter of 2019 — reports of social issues and homeless camps were slightly down in the city compared to the same time period in 2018.

Blundell says social housing projects in Kamloops have helped lower those numbers.

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“With our Spero House coming on board and being developed, and now people living in it, it’s a streamline. And then we have the Mission Flats area where we have the temporary housing there, as well as The Branch… it’s a ripple effect,” Blundell says. “You have individuals experiencing homelessness, we now have housing that’s available for them. Those individuals, we will find spots for them.”

There are still people without housing in the city, and Blundell says bylaw officers are being proactive about keeping things in the community clean and safe.

“We always have two officers out in the camp areas, making sure that camps are dealt with, people are dismantling their camps, staying on it, getting rid of garbage, removing garbage,” Blundell says.

From July to September of this year, there were 313 calls for service regarding camp clean-ups and social issues, compared to 393 during the same time period last year.