A years-long battle with vandalism, drinking, vagrancy and break-ins near the RCMP Park had residents fuming at a Town of St. Paul council meeting, Aug. 10, which ended up precipitating a wave of changes for the park on the northwest end of town, behind the Westbrook Mall.
Daryl Naundorf, one of a few residents at the meeting, noted that break-ins, vandalism and petty crime takes place in St. Paul on a regular basis and pose a headache to many citizens, and if council doesn’t know about these issues, “then really you’re not in touch with your community and you shouldn’t be sitting in that chair.”
He and his neighbours had experienced several incidences over the years, living beside the park, with Naundorf referring to an evening where a group of youth went around the neighbourhood banging doors in the night. Another resident at the meeting said his wife was afraid to go outside in the evenings because of the people hanging around, drinking and doing drugs at the park.
For Naundorf, one of the big problems was a walkway leading east out of the park, which is used by people he referred to as “riff-raff” that walk through, leaving trash and beer cans strewn around the walkway and along people’s property. He and his neighbours requested that the particular walkway be closed. They felt another walkway at the north end of the park did not pose an issue.
Residents also asked for a light for the park, as well as increased bylaw officers to patrol the area, and enforce bylaws, such as the town curfew for youth.
“All of these things are preventative, not reactive,” Naundorf said, adding that he felt the town’s peace officers were focusing too much time on speeding, seatbelt and other traffic offences. He also asked for these peace officers to be more visible in the evenings.
“We only have two peace officers, we can’t have 24-7 (patrols),” said Town CAO Ron Boisvert.
“No, but you can work rotation,” answered Naundorf.
This was the third time that the residents had approached council about the problems they saw around the RCMP Park area, and Naundorf complained that each time the issue was brought up, he was told the matter was forwarded to administration. He questioned what administration was doing to solve the situation.
In an interview after the meeting, Boisvert explained that in 2013, council entertained a similar request about the walkway on the east end of the park. The town had surveyed residents and decided not to close the easement that time, with Boisvert noting that one of the weighing factors was a dayhome provider who had six children that she walked to and from the park.
“Her only safe route for her and the kids was that easement, and to me that was kind of the turning point,” he said.
Council instead asked for police, its own peace officer and Lakeland Security Services to do more patrols in the area.
Mayor Glenn Andersen told the residents at the Aug. 10 meeting that following the request for more patrols, he had not heard back from the group on the issue, so he assumed the situation was resolved.
“I hadn’t had any complaints after that, so what do we know?” he said, later in the meeting.
After the residents had left, council discussed the thorny problem of dealing with vandalism and vagrancy. Andersen and Coun. Norm Noel noted there were issues with fencing off areas, and both expressed a view that if the one walkway was closed, people using drugs and alcohol would simply begin to cause problems in a different area.
Councillors voted down a motion put forth by Coun. Don Padlesky to close the walkway in question, and decided they needed to look at the park again, which they did last Thursday.
After looking at the park, council proposed to make a series of changes, including fencing the problem walkway on both sides, trimming trees to increase visibility and deter people from sleeping in the park, and even going a step further than the original request by fencing off the south and west sides of the park. They proposed there would be no access through the south side of the park, thus eliminating the need for a playground 30 km/hr speed zone on 51st Avenue, but the plan will include an access for the park from the east side alley and with a pedestrian entrance on the west side.
Another option for people would be to use Lingin Park, if it is more accessible, which will be upgraded with new equipment in the near future.
Naundorf said he and his fellow residents were “extremely happy” with the outcome.
“We were in disbelief when they came up with that. It’s going to solve the issue of the trash coming through the park, the people sleeping in the park, the people drinking in the park,” he said, adding the only other request he made left on the table was to have a peace officer doing night patrols.
In an interview after the site visit, Andersen explained council had wanted to address the concerns of residents. “Citizens of the town should be able to express their point of view and not think it’s a dead-end.”
He added other residents in the area had other complaints to add to the list, including complaints about speeding and off-highway vehicle use.
“We’re trying to address a whole bunch of issues – hopefully we do address a lot of it. Only time will tell.”
