By Greg Higgins

Colin Evans will bring "new blood” to N.B. council

Oct 20, 2016 | 5:00 PM

He’s only lived in the city for a year but one candidate thinks an outsider perspective is exactly what council needs.

Colin Evans moved to North Battleford a year ago for work and has already purchased a house.  After living in numerous cities across multiple provinces, he is here to stay and wants to be involved in the development of the community.

“Being new to the city I think I can bring a new perspective,” Evans said. “A lot of the people running have lived here for a long time. I’ve lived in multiple cities and seen how they’ve improved. I think for the city to reach its full potential we need some new blood.”

Evans said infrastructure is the most glaring issue in the city. He said the streets are falling apart and the sidewalks are in disrepair. One of Evans’ plans which he described as a “fun idea” was an “adopt a pothole” program as a means to help fund road repairs.

Evans added he has experienced being both a renter and homeowner in the city and wants to put a stop to “slumlords.” He felt rental rates in the city are too high for the quality and found some places are not up to safety codes.

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The candidate said a room he once rented had no fire detectors, nor did the house he bought. Evans said those were just a few examples of bylaws not being met.

He also took issue with signage in town.

“Sometimes there’s a stop sign, sometimes a yield sign, sometimes no sign at all,” Evans said. “My father came to visit me. He is a civil engineer who designs roads and sign placements in Ontario. He was complaining bitterly about it.”

Evans admitted the sign situation isn’t a quick fix and said it would be a long term plan. He wanted to do more research on the subject.

He admitted he isn’t quite as thrilled about Community Safety Officers as other candidates are. He felt changes to their image should be priority.

“I would like to meet with the community safety coordinator to make the CSOs more approachable,” Evans said. “I want members of the community to feel free to approach them about things they are worried about, rather than seeing them as just rent-a-cops who just pull you over for tickets and speeding.”

Evans said more needs to be done to revitalize the downtown core. He felt the five screen cinema was a good start, but still wasn’t enough. According to Evans more businesses are needed to compliment the theatre. He described the state of downtown as the “crux” of North Battleford.

The North Battleford municipal election takes place Oct.26.   

Greg Higgins is battlefordsNOW’s city municipal affairs and health reporter. He can be reached at ghiggins@jpbg.ca or tweet him @realgreghiggins.