Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-03-20 Minutes CLARINGTON SAFE COMMUNITIES ADVISORY COMMITTEE March 20, 2014, 3:00 P.M. MEETING ROOM 1A Present: Chris Newman, Firehouse Youth Centre, Chair Rolf Kluem, Durham Regional Police Services, Vice-Chair Gord Weir, Director of Emergency Services, Vice-Chair Len Creamer, Manager, Municipal Law Enforcement Mayor Adrian Foster Councillor Ron Hooper Lisa Dafos, Ontario Power Generation Maria Perrino, John Howard Society Marten Wind, Durham Regional Police Services Rev. John Wildeboer, Rehoboth Christian Reformed Church Also Present: Patti Barrie, Municipal Clerk Michelle Chambers, Clerk’s Department 1. MINUTES Moved by R. Kluem, seconded by G. Weir THAT the minutes of the meeting held on January 23, 2014 be approved. CARRIED Moved by Mayor Foster, seconded by G. Weir THAT the minutes of the meeting held on February 20, 2014 be approved. CARRIED 2. BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETING (a) Graffiti Strategic Planning Mayor Foster advised he wanted to bring this item back to the agenda to discuss and confirm that we had a plan on the issue moving forward. Veridian has provided contact numbers and email addresses to address graffiti complaints related to their equipment. Discussion ensued regarding possible strategies for dealing with this issue including whether or not this is something the committee would like to address. The following items were discussed:  The possibility of having an annual clean up  Informing the community about issue with graffiti in Clarington and providing information on the website and in the form of handouts  Clarington forwarding complaints received about graffiti to the appropriate Clarington Safe - 2 - March 20, 2014 Communities Committee agencies  Addressing graffiti issues later on in the year to avoid overlapping events as currently there are many spring clean up events scheduled  Contacting Veridian and other agencies with community boxes and obtaining the paint codes to match the paint and assist with painting over the graffiti  Durham Regional Police advised the graffiti report was prepared and Courtice is an area that is in need of monitoring  Graffiti concerns and mischief have reduced since the report  Durham Regional Police will focus on areas of concern including Emily Stowe P.S. and Dr. G. J. MacGillivray P.S.  Continuing with sending the message to the community regarding issues with graffiti  Sending information to the schools and asking that they circulate to the students and parents  Creating a “hotline” to report incidents of graffiti to the Municipality  Creating incentives for residents  Having sandwich board signs regarding graffiti placed within the Municipality  Wrapping the boxes on the streets to avoid graffiti Rev. John Wildeboer advised his church has approximately 100 volunteers that would like to be involved in a community clean up and were hoping to do this on th April 26, 2014. th The Valleys 2000 is having an event on April 26, 2014 at the Bowmanville Creek and a discussion took place regarding the possibility of the volunteers of the Rehoboth Christian Reform Church having a community cleanup in the morning and joining the Valleys 2000 event afterwards. Mayor Foster has a meeting with Valleys 2000 and will discuss this with them and advise. The Clarington Safe Communities advertisement for graffiti was distributed. Moved by G. Weir, seconded by L. Creamer THAT the Safe Communities Advertisement be distributed to local schools, businesses and on social media. CARRIED Clarington Safe - 3 - March 20, 2014 Communities Committee 3. NEW BUSINESS (a) Safe Communities of Pickering and Ajax (SCOPA) Mandate and Resources The website for Safe Communities of Pickering and Ajax was reviewed along with the list of programs and initiatives they have available. A discussion took place regarding possibility of Clarington developing one or two subcommittees, comprised of members of the community and focusing on areas of importance and what is valuable to the community. Further ideas were discussed, as follows:  Crime Prevention subcommittee and the creation of an information booklet to educate the community  How to outreach to the community and locate citizens that are looking for a way to help out within the community  Support these sub groups in hopes they will take on initiatives and provide them with the necessary resources  Contacting Neighbourhood and Road Watch and provide them with information to distribute  Focus on specific areas of concern and collect resources and information materials to have these available through various social media outlets  Establish a process where the public can obtain information on the areas of concern (b) Safe Communities Canada Designation Chris Newman discussed the future possibility of a Safe Communities Canadian Designation. The Parachute Canada Website contains information on Safe Communities Committees with a Canada wide designation. The website contains a checklist of steps that need to be taken to achieve this designation. This designation is a future possibility and can be used to address the issues that are important to the Municipality of Clarington. This topic can be discussed at the next meeting. (c) Social Media Patti Barrie confirmed that Jen Cooke, Manager, Communications and Tourism, is willing to update the Municipalities Facebook page and blog and has suggested using the Municipality’s existing pages as opposed to creating separate pages. She will require information to be forwarded to her for inclusion. It was discussed to have the Safe Communities Advertisement posted to the Municipalities Facebook and Twitter accounts and possibly creating specific hashtags for graffiti and Safe Communities that would provided links to information material. Clarington Safe - 4 - March 20, 2014 Communities Committee (d) Street Hockey Mayor Foster advised it has been brought to his attention that some of the residents of Clarington have concerns regarding the danger of children playing hockey on the street and the residents are requesting this situation be monitored. There was discussion regarding how this issue will be handled and Durham Regional Police will enforce as per the Highway Traffic Act, a person cannot impede roadways. The areas of concerns with be monitored and they will provide suggestions and alternatives to playing hockey in the street. (e) Trending Report Inspector Kluem advised of the following:  The incidents regarding the destruction of rural mail boxes are being investigated and monitored  Overall mischief incidents are trending downwards and calls have significantly reduced  There has been an increase is accidents due to poor weather conditions  Suspects have been identified in the Boots and Hearts ticket scheme and this will be released in the media shortly  Durham Regional Police is increasing road enforcement in school and high traffic areas  Construction for the new police building is well underway and will be a significant addition to the Clarington area 4. OTHER BUSINESS (a) Mayor Foster thanked Patti Barrie for her involvement with the committee and wished her well in her retirement. 5. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting is scheduled to be held on April 17, 2014, in Meeting Room 1A at 3:00 p.m. 6. ADJOURNMENT Moved by L. Creamer, seconded by G. Weir THAT the meeting adjourn. CARRIED Clarington Safe - 5 - March 20, 2014 Communities Committee The meeting adjourned at 4:25 p.m. hri ewmi, Chair Patti arrie, MuMcipal Clerk