P R I N CE G EO RG E C IT I Z E N
1
THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2024
12,000 Jackpot
$
SUPER BINGO
($7,500 cash plus $4,500 Slot Free Play)
0
58307
00200
5
Saturday, JuNE 29th Saturday Evening Bingo at 6pm
Local innovation .... Page 5
New fences going up around Moccasin Flats TED CLARKE
Citizen Staff
The city is putting up a new perimeter fence around Moccasin Flats. The chain-link fence will legally define the location of what’s also known as the Lower Patricia Boulevard Encampment, which has expanded eastward since the B.C. Supreme Court ruling in October 2021 that allowed the Lower Patricia encampment to remain open until suitable housing and daytime facilities were available. In that ruling, the encampment was vaguely referred to the area as a “green space at the end of Fifth Avenue.” In a report to council discussed at Monday’s public meeting at city hall, administration recommended the fence be reestablished on the east, west and south boundaries, not as an immediate attempt to move people out of the camp, but as a way for city staff to engage with residents currently camping outside the boundaries and encourage them to move voluntarily into the area within the fence. Council acknowledged the existing fence is cut regularly by residents to allow easier access but agreed to fund the as-yet-undetermined cost to secure the property. The city will also establish signs in the camp which outline expectations for the residents and reinforce existing bylaws. The report stems from the May 28 town hall meeting and open house on community safety, held at the Prince
CITIZEN STAFF
Prince George city council has voted to have new fencing installed around the Moccasin Flats encampment on Lower Patricia Boulevard, along with signs in the camp that outline expectations for the residents and reinforce existing bylaws.
George Conference and Civic Centre, which drew 220 people. Public participation included 40 feedback forms, 20 emails sent to the city website, 94 questions submitted online through the Slido app and 43 questions/ comments received at the forum. Questions raised at the town hall centred on housing, encampments and
air quality from campfire smoke and campsite structure fires. Those were the most common discussion topics in the public submissions. In response, administration recommended the city and its partners continue to build supportive housing capacity and provide suitable daytime facilities and low-barrier housing for
community members in need of those services. That includes B.C. Housing’s work to convert the former North Star Hotel at 15th Avenue and Victoria Street to low-barrier housing and the city’s transitional shelter facility now under construction at 397 Third Ave., slated for completion in the fall. SEE CITY ON PAGE 4