City staff in West Kelowna are moving ahead to add needle deposit boxes to susceptible areas around town.
Mayor Doug Findlater says he'd brought up the idea at Tuesday's council meeting, in response to an earlier staff report on increased vandalism.
"I had made a comment that perhaps we should look at needle depositories, which are a fairly common occurence. And I've been told today that staff made an operational decision, and have gone ahead and ordered these. They'll be installed in select locations," he said.
Findlater also says they'll also work with local social profits to educate users about how to use them.
"(The cost) is in the range of $2000-3000, and there may be 25 of them. (City staff) are identifying the sites where this is most commonly a problem," he said.
"Personally, I believe that people who are using these needles and drugs, they don't want to hurt anyone else. So I think that with a bit of education, we can get the use we want from them."
Findlater says that while the city might hear complaints about it, he doesn't expect them to offset the increasing complaints they'll recieve if more and more used needles are left out in parks and public spaces.
In related news, Findlater says he got a call out of the blue from BC Housing earlier this week.
In Kelowna, the ministry has funded affordable housing projects on land donated by the city, which Findlater explained isn't as easy to do on his side of the bridge.
"In the very brief conversation I had with the staff member from BC Housing, I indicated we have no land," he said.
"We inherited very little land when we incorporated, except for parkland, and parkland shouldn't be converted for housing uses of any kind."
Findlater says he also strongly believes that the city shouldn't be required to contribute to any of the capital or ongoing operational costs of a subsidized affordable housing project.