Deputy Mayor Kelli Hawtin shown at council's meeting Monday. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Party rules

City waives neighbourhood block party fee for 2020

Feb 25, 2020 | 8:57 AM

It may be only February but in a few months it will be neighbourhood block party time again.

As a bonus, anyone or any group interested in hosting a block party this year won’t have to pay an administrative charge.

North Battleford lawmakers agreed to waive the $25 permit fee again.

Deputy Mayor Kelli Hawtin, who chaired Monday’s council meeting, said the community event helps neighbours get to know their neighbours.

“We just want to continue to encourage communities to get together with block parties, and if we can remove some barriers then that’s a positive thing,” she said of council’s decision to waive the fee.

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Hawtin said the city has seen an increase in block parties since removing the fee last year.

North Battleford’s Crime Prevention Through Environment Design (CPTED) Review Committee made the request for council to drop the fee again for 2020.

City administration recommended waiving the fee in its report.

“We felt the program has been valuable to the city and the community,” City Planner Ryan Mackrell said in his report during the meeting. “We really just want to focus on the education and get people to want to have a block party.”

He added that CPTED plans to meet with community organizations to promote block parties so more groups may want to host one.

CPTED encourages people to have block parties which not only bring residents together but also serve to help increase safety and security in neighbourhoods as people get to know their neighbours.

Also during Monday’s meeting, the Crime Prevention Through Environment Design (CPTED) Committee was renamed as the North Battleford Community Safety Committee to make the name more memorable to the public, and to increase awareness of the group and its initiatives.

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW