A year into his second term as mayor of Courtenay, Bob Wells says the last year saw a focus on safety and they hope to continue that work while focusing on affordable housing in the new year.
Wells says 2023 saw many improvements to the downtown, including working with the school district to create active transportation corridors and making upgrades to 17th Street with bike lanes.
“If you look at Puntledge Elementary, we’ve now taken Woods Avenue and reduced the speed limit to 40 km/h and put in signalled crossings,” said Wells.
“We’ve installed a ton of [signalled crossings] across our community and we’re going to continue to make sure that those are going in to make sure people are as safe as possible.”
Wells adds they also worked to modernize their bylaw operations and worked closely with RCMP and the local chamber of commerce to provide more safety, highlighting the RCMP foot patrol pilot program.
“We had RCMP officers walking the streets, making sure that they are visible and being able to do check-ins they aren’t normally able to do,” said Wells. “Really doing a lot of stuff to reassure people that it is safe in our community.”
The year also saw the Point in Time count released by the province, showing an over 100 per cent increase in the community’s unhoused population. Wells says working to address this with affordable housing will be a large priority.
“It’s really critical in terms of getting the quantity out there,” said Wells. “We really kept pushing for the province and the federal government to step up and do their share in non-market housing.”
Wells adds they will keep pushing in the new year, and the city will be hosting the housing conference in April.
In addition to housing, climate change mitigation will also be a big focus for the city and ensuring that the community is very inclusive to all residents and people moving to the area.
Since his first term, Wells says he has noticed some anxiety from residents as the cost of living increases along with other stressors coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, he says the community has shown an incredible spirit, coming together to help one another.
“It’s really great to see people who are coming forward with solutions. They have those frustrations but it’s like ‘what can we do to solve all these challenges we have in the community?’,” said Wells. “That’s been really inspiring.”
Wells adds that if you have concerns and want to meet with Wells and council, you can do so through the city’s website.
