Public safety is a priority in Pitt Meadows’ 2017 budget.
It includes $166,000 a year for hiring an RCMP officer.
“Public safety is an absolute priority for a municipality. Without that feeling of safety, people don’t use the parks, they don’t go to the rinks, they don’t go to the library, so we really need to deliver that,” Ridge Meadows RCMP Supt. David Fleugel said in a presentation to council last week.
He noted the last staffing increase was in 2010, when the contingent of officers assigned to Pitt Meadows was increased to 22.
In 2013, council approved hiring another officer, but the position was later cut during budget considerations.
Fleugel said the preferred ratio is one officer per 500 people in a municipality.
“We’re pushing one to 900 here in Pitt Meadows,” adding that integration with Maple Ridge in a joint detachment creates efficiencies.
He said the new officer would work mainly in traffic and road safety and out of an office at the Katzie Health and Community Centre, to provide “proactive policing.”
“We need to stay out in front of the safety and security issues in our community,” Mayor John Becker said. “If we start chasing the taillights of these issues, we are hooped.”
Coun. Bill Dingwall, a former RCMP officer, said he hears from residents that they want to see more police.
The new officer will be on duty in April.
That decision was part of budget deliberations that took almost six hours over Wednesday and Thursday evenings last week, as council debated decision packages presented by senior staff.
The combination of spending increases with utility reductions will mean a tax increase of $19 per household, based on the average single family residence with a $670,000 assessment, said CAO Mark Roberts.
He said the city has achieved utility savings by contracting recycling and green waste collection to Multi-Material B.C., and negotiated a new seven-year deal with Waste Management.
Council also budgeted for a part-time bylaw enforcement officer to work evenings and weekends. This position will carry an annual cost of $47,800.
The part-time emergency operations coordinator position was increased, at an additional $37,200 annually.
“It’s about preparation to enhance operational effectiveness and public safety,” said Dingwall, who advocated that job should be based at the fire hall, as opposed to city hall, as professional firefighters have experience managing emergency situations.
“They bring professional credibility – expertise,” said Dingwall.
Council also agreed to expand the building at the public works yard to accommodate additional staff at a one-time cost of $340,000 and build a storage and equipment structure for the parks and facilities division at yard for $100,000.
Both will be funded from the future capital reserve fund. This change was made necessary by the city now doing its own park maintenance, after Maple Ridge ended the joint leisure services agreement last year.