‘Absolutely crazy:’ Residents allege rising tension, call for greater enforcement at housing complex

The 89-suite complex on the peripheral of North Battleford’s downtown opened June 1982. It’s listed on the Battlefords Housing Authority (BHA) website as a senior’s housing unit with common areas on the main floor and mini-lounges on floors three through 10.

The rise in delinquency, according to the resident, drove out older, long-time tenants as they felt unsafe calling the tower home. They say the new crop of people is upsetting the culture of the building and point to other more suitable living arrangements in the city. However, they said this has yielded accusations of discrimination.

“It has nothing to do with discrimination,” the resident said. “Make people follow the rules. It is a really bad situation.”

The tenant said a petition was recently distributed and sent to Regina, asking for the building to be designated as strictly senior’s housing.

Tenants feel complaints going unanswered

The resident said tenants have made “endless” written and verbal complaints to management about drunk people passing out in the hallways, laundry room and common areas, and people smoking cigarettes and cannabis “everywhere,” but to no avail.

They question why apparent lease violations are not resulting in evictions.

The tenant said 911 calls to the building have skyrocketed over the last few months but said nothing is being done to remedy the situation. The tenant said officers were at the building at least a dozen times one weekend in May and are often removing people who are fighting, partying into the early morning hours or are severely inebriated.

“Senior tenants from Valleyview Towers 2 are at their wit’s end as they see their life falling apart,” an anonymous resident wrote in a letter to battlefordsNOW. “Their last few years are being turned into a daily nightmare of fear and torment at the hands of a housing authority that is supposed to be helping them.”

Natalie Berrecloth and a handful of other residents, who also wished to remain anonymous while speaking to battlefordsNOW, echoed similar grievances.

Berrecloth recalled one encounter a few weeks ago where she found four residents horsing around in the elevator. She shuffled them out the door only to later find them fighting outside.

“Seven cop cars came,” she said. “This goes on all the time.”

Another resident said he was unable to get into the laundry room the other week as someone was passed out behind the door. He had to call the police to assist.

Once, another resident said she watched in horror when she rode the elevator with an intoxicated woman who sat on a chair and proceeded to urinate on the floor.

“I didn’t know what she was doing,” she said.

Berrecloth and the others said the state of the building was not this bad last year.

Battlefords RCMP spokesperson Staff Sgt. Darcy Woolfitt told battlefordsNOW he could not readily provide call volumes for the building and only said officers, “investigate complaints as they arise and deal with them according to whatever the level of call for service is.”

Ministry aware, consultant sent to address concerns

In a written statement, the Ministry of Social Services, which oversees the BHA, said they are aware of the situation and have worked with tenants in the building over the past few months to address concerns.

They said the management and board of the BHA reached out to the Saskatchewan Housing Authority (SHA) for tenant support. The SHA dispatched staff who met with local authorities and conducted tenant interviews to understand what the challenges are and how they can be remedied.

“Our goal is to support tenants in addressing challenges, creating mechanisms for tenants to respectfully communicate and work with each other to create the kind of environment they want to see in the building and ensure all tenants are meeting their lease obligations,” the statement read.

In instances where tenants continue to break their lease obligations and are unwilling to change their behaviour, the SHA said a housing authority begins an eviction process.

“It’s important that people in housing need in North Battleford have access to social housing units,” they wrote. “We will continue to work with the tenants and hope to help them resolve their issues in this instance.”

The ministry said social housing is intended to serve households with low incomes. Priority is given to seniors who are aged 55-plus, families with children or dependents, and individuals with disabilities who are in the greatest housing need.

On June 4, a letter, which was provided to battlefordsNOW, was distributed to tenants regarding the creation of a code of conduct, coming on the back of recommendations from a SHA community relations consultant who conducted three days of investigation interviews with residents.

The housing authority has offered to lead, select and guide a group of nominated tenants who will create the exceptions for tenant behaviour for the housing authority to adopt, according to the letter.

Other recommendations include a common area use policy and lobby loitering rules. If the code of conduct, rules and policies are developed, the letter said the BHA will reconsider a tenant association to operate and an application for funding.

Attached to the letter was a form to nominate tenants to sit on the committee for the code of conduct creation. Seven to nine nominees will be selected from as many floors as possible, according to the letter.

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tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr

by Tyler Marr

‘Absolutely crazy:’ Residents allege rising tension, call for greater enforcement at housing complex

Tenants feel complaints going unanswered

Ministry aware, consultant sent to address concerns

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