Fires, Grow Ops loom as potential Council discussion topic for tonight

All that remains standing from the May 1st Fire that 
consumed the Belmont Hotel is the lower level of
The Rose's structure at 7th Street and 3rd Avenue West

Prince Rupert City Council members may have a percolating issue on their hands worth discussing and informing the public on as part of their Monday evening session tonight. 

That with another downtown structure consumed by fire, and a report in the Northern View today which shares the allegations  and concerns of  the owner of the Belmont Hotel related to the fire of May 1st which resulted in the destruction of the iconic establishment.

So far, when it comes to the investigation into the fire, there has been no information released by the Prince Rupert Fire Rescue Department as to the cause of the May 1st blaze on Third Avenue West.

In the story posted to the local newspaper's website this morning, businessman Terry Sawka updates the impact of the fire on the business he was associated with and relays the litany of concerns he had raised previously with the City of Prince Rupert, MLA Jennifer Rice and MP Taylor Bachrach.

The business owner expanding on his frustration over the lack of action towards what he notes has been a growing volume of grow ops that have been established in vacant downtown buildings.

The increase in such enterprises has been a topic in front of Council in the past, with Mayor Lee Brain relaying the city's own frustrations on the issue in June of 2021, noting at the time as to how the  situation was one that was beyond Council's control and how communicating with the public was a challenging situation.

"In terms of communication, yes, we could easily communicate with the public more what that issue is, however it is technically challenging thing to communicate and I think people want an easy answer to what is actually a complex problem" -- Mayor Lee Brain on local grow op concerns from a Council session in June of 2021

Our notes above, also provide for a bit of a thumbnail sketch towards the topic which has come before Council off and on since 2017.

In the Northern View piece from this morning, Mr. Sawka did raise a pair of valid points that could be remedied perhaps: 

First on how the city approaches information sharing on such grow op ventures, followed by his concerns over the lack of information released on the results of the many fire investigations of the fires of the past.

On the grow ops, the business owner calls for the city to provide more information for the public towards where those enterprises have been put in place. 

Until that time, a walk in any direction through the downtown core from City Hall, probably will provide anyone with a rough guide as to where they may be, simply by following one's nose during a gust of wind.

As for the Fire investigations, Sawka has also called for the City to provide for public reports on the findings of the Fire Department from fires that they attend.

Council will have opportunity to respond to those comments at their session tonight, at their last Special Council Session of May 2nd, the Councillors made no mention of the latest significant fire in the community, wrapping up their work on the night in less than two minutes.

It's not listed as an Agenda topic for tonight, but with the story destined to be a talking point for the community through the day, tonight's session offers Council opportunity to provide an update as to whether they have made any progress with the Federal or Provincial governments, or if they can explore any other local areas where more stringent enforcement can be put in place through civic bylaws.

More background on what is on the Agenda for tonight can be reviewed from our preview here.