Town of Battleford council at this week's meeting. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Needle pick ups

Town concerned about number of discarded needles found in community

Nov 23, 2022 | 2:50 PM

Town of Battleford Mayor Ames Leslie raised the issue of discarded needles found in public areas, during this week’s council meeting.

He said about 12 needles were recently discovered in the cenotaph area off 2 Avenue West in Battleford.

Leslie is especially concerned because the area is close to a local elementary school playground.

“If a kid falls, plays, and rolls on it, you never know what is going to happen,” he said.

Leslie noted that discarded needles continue to be a problem in the community that needs to be addressed.

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“We are looking at getting some secure boxes to help alleviate some of that, but it still is an issue,” he said.

The mayor added the Town of Battleford has been having conversations with the Prairie Harm Reduction group and the Saskatchewan Health Authority to decide where the best place would be to put a secure needle collection drop box in the town.

“Usually [it might be] one downtown, close to a public gathering spot,” he said. “It’s an unfortunate place for the world to be like that.”

If people in the town have some needles in a container they want to get rid of, they can call the fire department in advance to set up a time to drop them off when someone is available.

Leslie said hopefully people would not drop their needles in the playgrounds or along back alleys to keep the community safe.

Needle drop boxes are located in North Battleford at the following places: the north side (back end) of Frontier Mall, the 1300 block of 102nd across from the Eiling Kramer Building, at the emergency homeless shelter, and at the Friendship Centre.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow