THUNDER BAY - After rejecting a proposal to build a $600,000 fence around the Balmoral Street Thunder Bay Police Service headquarters, the Police Services Board is moving forward on less expensive changes to the property that will not address all concerns, but will help prevent members of the public from accessing staff only areas.
The new plan was presented to the Thunder Bay Police Services Board on Tuesday and includes adding more signage directing traffic to public parking and identifying areas that are for police only, installing a barrier preventing members of the public from parking in the staff only lot, and adding additional spaces in front of the building for visitor and collision reporting parking.
Thunder Bay Police Service chief Sylvie Hauth said these issues have been discussed by the health and safety committee for a number of years.
“We have looked at it under a number of occasions,” she said. “On a daily basis, our officers are challenging people in the parking lot who are coming through or driving through. It is still an issue that is on our radar on a daily basis. Does it fix everything, 100 per cent no, is it a band aid solution, yes. It is a step where we are helping to create a little tighter bubble in our parking facility but it doesn’t address all concerns.”
One of the concerns with the existing property is members of the public parking in the staff lot, which has no barriers.
Not only does it allow members of the public to move through the staff lot, they are also forced to cross a driveway with heavy traffic to get to the main entrance.
Chris Adams, director of communications and technology with the Thunder Bay Police Service, added that the visitor parking lot is small and with additional signage and barriers, it will help direct traffic to the appropriate areas and keep people away from areas that are for staff only.
“This will allow us to cut off the employee parking and increase the signage,” he said. “But changing the traffic pattern around the building, it makes it easier for our members to identify who should be there and who shouldn’t be or identify friend or foe.”
“The health and safety committee feels this gives a better pattern of traffic and gives our members a better chance to survey who is in the parking lot, and the pricing is quite a reduction.”
The cost of the plan is $107,320, a significant reduction from the $600,000 fencing around the entire property that was rejected by the Thunder Bay Police Service Board earlier this year due to the cost and that it has already committed to building a new facility.
A motion was put forward by Thunder Bay Mayor Bill Mauro to approve moving forward with the security enhancements and secure funding through Thunder Bay city council or add it to the 2022 capital budget.
