NUMBER OF OVERDOSES ON THE RISE /PAGE 3 merrittherald.com
SPORTS: MARTIAL ARTS STARS SHINE BRIGHT /PAGE 17
Nicola Valley’s News Voice Since 1905
bcclassified.com
MERRITT HERALD FREE
THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2016 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
Business owners explore options for downtown Merritt Cole Wagner THE MERRITT HERALD
PAYING THE PRICE City of Merritt picking up $37,000 shortfall to house prisoners Michael Potestio THE MERRITT HERALD
The City of Merritt says it’s shouldering too much of the cost to house provincial prisoners in the cells at the Merritt police detachment. Last year, the city absorbed a $37,209 shortfall sheltering prisoners. The provincial government doesn’t fully reimburse the city for the cost of housing provincial prisoners. In 2015, the city received a rate that averaged $7.06 per hour per prisoner from the government despite it costing the city $14.61, For all your landscaping needs call the professionals at
tlcpond1@telus.net 250-378-4166
which is more than twice the amount received. “As soon as we have one person in a cell we have to have a guard there, so you can imagine what that costs an hour, plus if they’re there for any length of time they have to be fed and everything else,” City of Merritt director of finance, Sheila Thiessen, told the Herald. There was a total of approximately 10,500 hours of incarceration accumulated at the cells last year — 47 per cent of which were for provincial prisoners. Prisoner maintenance
New
costs totalled $153,280 in 2015. The total provincial share was $72,031.36, but the government only reimbursed the city $34,821. Thiessen said if a person is apprehended within the city limits, he or she is considered a municipal prisoner until arraigned in court, which is usually within 24 hours. If captured just outside the city, they are considered a provincial prisoner right away. The city wants a better hourly rate. “It just needs to be grounded a bit more in
reality,” Thiessen said. “Municipalities as a whole are looking at [this]. I would think that they would like to see it more realistically set.” The province determines the rate it pays based on the average cost to house a prisoner in the province, which isn’t fair Thiessen told the Herald. The City of Merritt intends to discuss the issue at the Southern Interior Local Government Association (SILGA) in Kelowna this April, and at the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) conference this September in Victoria.
After more than 20 years of listening to the complaints, suggestions and frustrations of local business owners regarding the state of downtown Merritt, Bruce McMurchy said he’s heard it all. He just hasn’t seen much change. But after a modestly successful inaugural meeting of downtown business owners on the 23rd of this month, hosted at Brambles’ Bakery, McMurchy — who owns Gun Fishin’ — hopes that the group can channel their frustrations to create a better working relationship with the City of Merritt. The meeting, McMurchy said, “was really preliminary. Instead of complaining to each other, or complaining to me, let’s get together and do something.” Many of the issues discussed at the meeting were the same issues that have plagued the downtown area for “more than 20 years,”
said McMurchy. McMurchy highlighted vandalism as an ongoing issue, as well as the perception that the downtown area is, “too dirty.” Though no solutions were proposed at the meeting, McMurchy hopes that the group can come together to identify priorities, and unite their voices to lobby city council for support in revitalizing the downtown area. “We’ve already got 20 years’ worth of studies and reports, and they all repeat the same things over and over and over. Well, now the business people are saying, we have a mayor and council willing to work with us, let’s do it,” explained McMurchy. Attached to the invitation to the March meeting was a summary — authored by Community Futures Nicola Valley (CFNV) — of six different reports on the downtown business area, most of which were conducted by CFNV itself.
See ‘Businesses’ Page 3
MEAL DEAL M Deluxe Bacon Cheeseburger MEAL
dq.ca
$5.99 Drizzled with a tangy balsamic glaze and topped with freshly chopped tomatoes seasoned with Italian herbs.
$E7OLF 7AY -ERRITT "# s