Sharps boxes to be installed around the community
City council has green-lighted a plan to install 30 drop boxes for used syringes around the community.
City staff will work with a committee made up of 17 community partners that studied the issue to determine placing of drop boxes.
Ian Gerbrandt, program director for OneSky Community Resources, spoke on beahlf the committee at the city council’s meeting Tuesday.
OneSky currently has 20 drop boxes for interior use intended to be placed in washrooms and plans also include 10 outdoor, aluminum boxes and an “end-ofline” disposal unit. Currently there is only one such location in the city.
“That was at the Penticton Health Centre. A lot of people were throwing it in the landfill and dumps and that’s not safe for the staff that do that work,” Gerbrandt said.
Gerbrandt proposed working with city staff on an honorarium basis to monitor and collect waste from the sites and putting occupational health and safety responsibilities on the city.
A kiosk will be set up at the city yards on Okanagan Avenue East through an extended partnership with Interior Health to handle disposal, Gerbrandt said. As well, community partners have shown support with the South Okanagan Women in Need Society’s mobile outreach centre offering to monitor boxes while out and about in the community.
The committee has so far raised $6,000 on its own, seeking only in-kind contributions from the city.
Coun. Andre Martin asked how the success of the program would be qualified or measured.
“It’s going to be impossible to count every discarded needle, but there is a bit of a tracking system with every box when they empty them to kind of keep track of what’s working, what’s not, if it’s the right location,” Gerbrandt said.
Gerbrandt commended RCMP, bylaw enforcement and the Penticton Fire Department for already having the data that would likely point out hot spots to help with the placement of the drop boxes.
“We expect, as other communities have been able to show, that when the box goes in they start to see a decline in the hot spots. You’ve just got to get creative each time with where you put those things and how you respond,” Gerbrandt said.
Mayor Andrew Jakubeit asked if the city could take direction from other communities who have designed drop boxes as art pieces such as a daffodil that safely stores needles in the stem.
“Tourism is important for a town, so we want to be responsive and responsible,” Gerbrandt confirmed, adding the boxes will be placed with the community’s image in mind.