One might say change in North Bay can come at a zombie-like pace.
But, to the owners of a Main Street West spin cycling studio — who recently told North Bay City Council living here was like experiencing an episode of The Walking Dead — there is some guarded optimism.
See original story: Owners say new business 'is guaranteed to fail' in 'Walking Dead' downtown
"We are thrilled to see an increased police presence in the downtown core and are already feeling slightly more safe," say REVolve owners Jane Kelly and David Barrie. "We’ve heard from a number of business owners and employees who have already noticed the same."
The two add they "were happy to notice a number of broken windows in the downtown being replaced over the last few days. Maybe the tide is changing and a fresh breath of life is being breathed into the core."
North Bay Police Chief Scott Tod recently addressed the public comments and media coverage surrounding the presentation made by Kelly and Barrie about how their new business "was guaranteed to fail," due to what they feel is a lack of response to the criminal and social issues on display in the downtown.
Tod says what he takes away from the presentation and subsequent discussion is "that presence in the downtown area is what many would like to see. I think that is one thing our community resource team will do is give us a presence in areas in which there are immediate needs for public safety or public concern."
The community response team he refers to was announced at Tuesday's police board meeting but Chief Tod says it has been in the works for some time. The team will debut in 2021 and will operate as a foot patrol in identified hot spots like downtown — but not exclusively in that area.
"I think a lot of it is the result of work that we have been doing over the last two years internally and externally within the organization to address what I say are the growing social disorder trends in the city," observes Tod.
Tod cites a breakdown of 70 per cent for social disorder and 28 per cent crime-related in calls for service, something he says the community response unit will help address.
"We are there right now, but we now want officers on the street talking to the people, meeting with the business owners regularly, meeting with the interested community groups, and working collaboratively with all our social agencies dealing with those social disorder issues we have across North Bay," adds Tod.
Although Kelly and Barrie are pleased with the recent response from the North Bay Police Service, they say they are "disappointed to only have been contacted by one member of city council after our presentation."
They say Coun. Mark King reached out by phone the day after and were "very pleased that MPP Vic Fedeli made time to meet with us on Tuesday to discuss these issues."
With files from Chris Dawson
