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📷 Mayor of Nanaimo Leonard Krog and Nanaimo City Council passed several motions on Monday Night / via City of Nanaimo Council Livestream

Nanaimo city council has passed several motions it hopes will jump-start the local economy. The city has agreed to allow restaurants, bakeries and cafes along Commercial Street to expand table service to the roadway. Businesses will be able to lease space on city-owned parking spots from now until the end of October. The move will still allow for vehicle traffic, and having the expanded patios in parking spaces means sidewalks will remain clear for pedestrians. Council members say similar businesses in areas outside the downtown, like Woodgrove and the Country Club are already permitted to expand their businesses to parking spots on their private property. In a similar move, council has unanimously agreed to a recommendation by the province to pre-approve the expansion of liquor service to outdoor spaces by pubs, bars, wineries and breweries. The pre-approval will not increase the number of licensed seats, it simply allows those seats to be shifted to outdoor patio space. The provincial government would be responsible for inspecting the sites.

Council has also decided to allocate close to $200,000 to help deal with what it calls "social disorder issues." It is expanding a pilot project, started last November that includes bylaw officers, sanitation workers and RCMP members, working as a team, to deal with illegal camping and disturbances, as well as removing garbage, abandoned shopping carts, cleaning up graffiti and washrooms in the downtown core and city parks. The money will come from the Special Initiatives Reserve and will fund the "Social Disorder Response Team" until the end of this year. Council has asked staff to report on a request by businesses in the old city quarter to share the cost of security patrols and a call centre for complaints. Some area residents and businesses say they've become fearful of a growing homeless population that is taking over the area. It is asking the city to share the estimated $30,000 dollar cost of the program.

BC Ferries will resume service between Departure Bay and Horseshoe Bay on June 3. The route will start with four round trips per day, and the ferry corporation is advising customers to reserve spots because the sailings will be limited to half of normal capacity. However, customers who had already reserved spots between June 3rd and July 1st will see their reservations cancelled and a refund offered. The ferry corporation says the cancellations are due to a change in the sailings schedule. It is encouraging all travellers, including foot passengers to arrive an hour before the sailing because the process of screening customers for COVID-19 has slowed down embarkation.

Written and reported by: Lisa Cordasco, News Director for CHLY 101.7FM.

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