Graffiti, shopping carts and cleaning Galt Gardens were on the agenda for this week’s Downtown Lawlessness Reduction Task Force.
Sarah Amies, executive director of the Downtown BRZ and a member of the task force, gave a presentation on efforts to clean up graffiti. She pointed out the BRZ has removed significantly more in the past few years – going from fewer than 100 graffiti tags removed in 2022, to 405 in 2023. So far this year, the BRZ has removed about 132 tags downtown.
Amies noted the BRZ is working to colour match when workers paint over graffiti to make a better finished product. She also told the task force the Clean Sweep program would require additional funds if it were to keep up on graffiti clean-up year-round.
City councillor John Middleton-Hope sits on the task force and brought up shopping carts at the meeting, saying he wants the city to work with the BRZ on an information campaign targeting businesses that have carts stolen often.
“This originated with a motion that I brought forward to council last June, almost a year ago, in regards to working with businesses, particularly in the 2A avenue north areas to lock up their shopping carts,” Middleton-Hope said.
He said he received several complaints about shopping carts being abandoned after being stolen. The motion failed last summer but Middleton-Hope said he wanted to commend businesses that have since locked up their carts.
“We have taken it upon ourselves both privately, as well as a corporation, to pick up shopping carts, to clean them, to try to return them back to business owners. These shopping carts are valued in excess of $750 per shopping carts – it is theft when people are taking them off the property and using it for a purpose other than for which they are designed,” Middleton-Hope said.
The task force received Middleton-Hope’s presentation on shopping carts for information.
Middleton-Hope also wanted to discuss cleanup efforts at Galt Gardens. He mentioned plans to power wash surfaces, paint and repair damaged areas and possibly replacing mulch areas with rubberized surfaces.
The task force also received a submission from the Lethbridge Police Service on its downtown policing resources. Lethbridge Fire and EMS provided an update on efforts to mitigate fires in alleyways.