The catwalk to Barrie North Collegiate just used up one of its lives.
Councillors decided Monday night not to investigate closing the city’s walkway from Jonathan Court to Davidson Street, disputing there are ongoing safety issues.
“Catwalks are part of our sidewalk system in the city of Barrie and I could never support removing part of our sidewalk system,” said Acting Mayor Barry Ward. “There may be a problem, I don’t know, but the bottom line is we can address those problems, but we should not be removing a sidewalk anywhere in the city of Barrie.
“I think it’s frustrating that the school board hasn’t been able to address this issue.”
Coun. Keenan Aylwin, who represents the area, asked that city staff investigate the feasibility of closing the access to the catwalk from Jonathan Court to Davidson Street, due to ongoing safety issues, and report back to councillors before summer recess begins in July.
“There’s been an ongoing issue with some students from Barrie North congregating in the area of Jonathan Court and they use this catwalk to access Jonathan Court,” Aylwin said. “There’s been some altercations that have taken place. There have been issues with litter, with loitering, with trespassing.”
The Ward 2 councillor said Const. Keira Brooks, community safety and well-being officer with Barrie police, has been involved with this matter and has spoken with Barrie North Collegiate officials.
“One of the things the residents on the court have asked for is we look at losing the catwalk,” Aylwin said. “There was some mixed reaction from the school about that, but they did say it was worth exploring.
“I don’t think it (closing the catwalk) would be a be-all-and-end-all solution, but it is one of the only tools in our toolbox right now to address this ongoing concern,” he added, noting the issue first came to him in March 2021.
Aylwin noted his motion was not to close the catwalk, but to investigate the feasibility of doing that.
“We owe it to the residents to at least explore that option,” he said.
Coun. Ann-Marie Kungl said she supports an investigation.
“If it’s not closing the catwalk, then are there other options or what can we do?” she said.
Coun. Natalie Harris also supports the motion, wants the research and to explore other options.
But the majority of councillors said no to Aylwin’s motion.
“It’s no different than any other school area,” said Coun. Robert Thomson. “Kids will be kids and we should have a little bit of hope in our youth. I think there are some issues, but I think they occur around a lot of schools.”
He said closing the catwalk would set a bad precedent.
“We talk about the walkable community, the connectivity. I don’t even think it’s worth wasting staff time,” Thomson said. “This is a school issue if it’s the kids.
“I don’t think we should start closing catwalks for behaviour. This is a slippery slope if we start looking at closing things because they create behaviours.”
Coun. Jim Harris lived beside the catwalk for about 26 years, attended North Collegiate, his brother still lives in the area and Harris said he knows the residents well.
“Those I have spoken to don’t want it closed. So I’m not sure who’s being spoken to, maybe a few people with an interest,” he said, noting only four houses completely border the walkway.
“I can tell you from lived experience that that walkway served many families. I can give you lots of names,” Harris said. “It’s probably one of the best designed. … There’s no place to hide.”
He said the real problem is the creek area bordered by Bothwell Crescent, Jonathan Court and Grove Street, with a bench taken from MacMorrison Park for kids to sit on.
The area was littered Tuesday morning.
“I don’t think we want to make our community less accessible, less walkable because there’s a problem somewhere else that won’t be solved by closing the walkway,” Harris said.
Council will consider final approval of this motion’s defeat at its May 2 meeting. It could still be sent back to general committee or a city reference committee, such as the city bulling committee, for more discussion.
