Live forum on proposed Belleville police station goes well

By Jack Carver

A QNet News online forum discussing the proposed Belleville police station went well last night, says City Councilor Jodie Jenkins.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was good to see the community come out and discuss these issues.”

The forum sought to bring people’s concerns about the city delegating $21 million to be spent on a new police station to the councilors of the city. The forum lasted from 7 to 8 p.m. last night.

Belleville city council and Belleville police agreed that an improvement would be in order, as the current one does not meet the city’s needs adequately. A total of $21 million has been budgeted for the station, including $1 million that was set-aside in the 2012 Belleville police services budget. The city is still unsure whether the old station will be renovated or an entirely new station will be built.

Jenkins was the only councilor in attendance. He said that even though the motion has gone forward, that should not stop people from addressing issues they have with how the money is being spent or where the station will be placed.

“I would be more than happy to make our councilors aware of the people’s concerns,” said Jenkins. “I’m in a difficult position because the reality is this motion has gone forward and the city is moving to build a police station. But again that shouldn’t stop people from voicing their concerns.”

QNet News students organized the forum as part of a classroom assignment meant to give residents a voice on the matter with the police station. A total of  10 people participated in the discussion including the three students who organized the event, and the program coordinator.

The discussion ranged from the proposed locations of the new station, if Belleville needs a new station or not, and what kind of job the city did on taking people’s concerns into account.

One forum participant commented that, “The proposed figure for repairing the building is illogical, and I feel as though it was just thrown out to justify buying a new coffee maker, figuratively.”
Michael Oosting, a resident of Belleville said that he felt the city didn’t properly consider the opinions of other residents of Belleville.

“I feel as if the city made an effort to seek out the opinions of the public, and a decent effort at that, but then discarded those opinions,” said Oosting. “It would be obvious that the majority is opposed to the police station.”
The best way to bring these concerns to the city is by directly contacting your councilor, Jenkins said.

“I would be more than happy to make our councilors aware of these concerns; I’m not sure what kind of impact it would have,” said Jenkins. “Something that may have more impact, and I encourage people to do so, is email their councilors and let them know they feel they’re not being listened to or there’s issues that need to be addressed. “

Construction will begin on the new station in the summer of 2014.

For the original story head to http://www.qnetnews.ca/?p=27388.