Municipal officials will be looking into adding a set of gates in downtown Chatham in an effort to deter crime.
At their May 11 meeting, members of Chatham-Kent Council approved a motion from Councillor Conor Allin, on behalf of the Historic Downtown Chatham BIA, to have administration complete a report on installing gates between the buildings at 202 and 210 King Street West.
Councillor Rhonda Jubenville expressed concern this would set a precedent of council covering requests from private businesses.
“My only concern is that there are multiple business that have expressed issues that they are having with the behaviours of some individuals on their properties,” said Jubenville.
“It almost appears that we are sending the signal that we play favouritism because we are going to be funding something to help a couple businesses.”
Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Michael Duben reminded council the motion was only for staff to provide a report.
“What we are doing today is directing staff to do a report. We may not recommend it as staff, or we may recommend it. I’m just suggesting that you have a second chance to add that once you know a little bit more,” Duben explained.
Councillors Amy Finn, Alysson Storey, John Wright, Trevor Thompson and Jubenville voted against the motion, with Councillor Anthony Ceccacci abstaining from a conflict of interest.
