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City axes block party fees

May 26, 2016 | 12:00 PM

There will be one less obstacle to holding a block party this summer, thanks to the city’s decision to axe the $25 fee for block party street barricades.

City Manager Jim Puffalt said removing the fee is part of the city’s community safety strategy to encourage residents to get to know their neighbours and one way they could do that is by throwing a block party.

“We’re encouraging people to meet their neighbours and there’s a cost, a penalty, to having one so we wanted to take that away and show our full support for our program, people meeting people and just knowing who lives next door,” he said.

Puffalt said city staff want to support people getting to know each other in the community and taking away one more obstacle in the form of a fee might help that.

When people know their neighbours, they can keep an eye out for anything unusual that happens in the neighbourhood or can watch a neighbour’s house when they’re away which could reduce crime, he said.

“We want everybody looking out for everybody,” he said. “Crime reduction and community safety is not just to the police or to the city, it’s for everybody to help out.”

There will still be a $25 deposit for the barricades, but that will be returned when the items are returned undamaged. There will also be an optional $75 fee for transportation and setup of the barricades.

 

Sarah.rae@jpbg.ca

@sarahjeanrae