Representatives from the Downtown Prince George Business Improvement Area told city council at its meeting Monday, June 24, that they hope to launch the security camera pilot project approved last December by the end of the summer.
The DBIA covers the portion of downtown Prince George zoned as C1, which extends from Queensway to the east, as far west as Winnipeg Street, as far north as First Avenue and as far south as Patricia Boulevard.
Executive director Chrisie Berry, president Eoin Foley and treasurer Derek Dougherty appeared before council on behalf of the DBIA. Led by Berry, the group presented its 2024 financial information and outlined its plans for 2025.
It was the first time Berry addressed council since taking over the role in May from Colleen Van Mook, who retired.
In December 2024, city council approved $40,000 in funding to fund a security camera pilot project run by both the DBIA and the Chamber of Commerce. It is being based on a similar successful program run out of Penticton.
Berry said the organization has received its funding and the project “is in motion.”
“Currently we’re working really closely with the RCMP to make sure the cameras meet the right standards for resolution and functionality so they’ll be effective in supporting the safety of downtown and what we’re trying to achieve.”
“Our goal is to have the system up and running by this summer, though that timeline might be ambitious depending on how things go with equipment installations and that type of thing.”
In 2024, the organization brought in $665,025 in revenue. Of that total, 54 per cent came from its membership levy, through which $358,215 was collected.
Another 26 per cent and $176,000 was brought in through the clean and safe programs, seven per cent ($43,476) came in from events and promotions, another seven per cent ($43,415) came from beautification efforts, five per cent ($36,000) came from in-kind contributions and one per cent ($7,920) came from other sources.
That represents a slight surplus, with only $654,400 in expenditures in 2024.
Of that amount, 29 per cent ($255,565) was spent on clean and safe programs, 27 per cent ($171,460) was spent on governance and promotions, 20 per cent ($132,745) was spent on events and promotions, 10 per cent ($66,840) was spent on beautification efforts and four per cent ($27,790) was spent on special projects.
The DBIA runs six micro grant programs — beautification, events, marketing and promotions, safety e-commerce and broken windows — as well as a façade improvement grant supported by the Northern Development Initiative Trust. Combined, the seven programs distributed $14,753 in 2024.
Currently, Berry said, the DBIA’s social media accounts are focusing on four core pillars: eat, shop, explore and thrive. The organization’s website also has a member directory divided into those four pillars.
“We have encouraged all of our members to submit anything they’d like to see featured and we’re happy to push that forward for them,” Berry said.
Annual events put on by the DBIA include Downtown Winterfest, Downtown Summerfest, A Taste of Downtown passport program, Downtown Fallfest and Downtown Plaid Friday. Summerfest takes place next month on July 19.
Berry said there was limited participation in the Taste of Downtown event and they’re looking at fresh approaches to stay downtown longer throughout the year.
New for this year is a bike valet program funded by the BC Cycling Coalition and the BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit. It launched during the grand opening for the Nanguz’An container market at Canada Games Plaza and will run during five more events this year.
During her presentation, Berry said that the clean and safe program cleaned up 6,666 needles, 5,900 biohazards, 4,881 garbage bags, 61 shopping carts and 104 pallets in 2024.
The Drug Awareness Recovery Team (DART) helps clear downtown alleyways of debris and needles every morning, The Brain Injured Group with support from Northern Health cleans up sidewalk litter twice a day from Monday through Friday and ACME Janitor Services cleans up biohazards every morning.
Levies funding business improvement areas are established as a local services tax by local governments under BC’s community charter.
Earlier this year, the DBIA successfully renewed its levy for a 10-year term running to 2035.
Berry said to defeat the renewal, more than half of the businesses in the area would have had to sign a counter-petition run by the city. Out of 243 potential members, only 10 approved the renewal.
Under the renewal, there are no changes to the boundaries of the levy. In the first year of the renewal, the DBIA is expecting to see a three per cent increase in collective levies, which are based on assessed property values. No one business will pay more than $12,500 for their levy.
The DBIA works with the City of Prince George, the Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Prince George on the Downtown Strategy Team, which meets quarterly to improve the neighbourhood.
A 2025 budget for the DBIA was presented with both $656,817 in revenue and expenses. Under the organization’s bylaws, council was required to pass a motion approving the budget, which it did unanimously.
