The Rocky Mountain Rangers (RMR) have selected the former Meadows elementary school as their favourite Prince George location for a local militia headquarters.
Negotiations between the Canadian Forces and School District 57 are not finished, but they have passed enough thresholds that public consultation is now appropriate, said RMR commanding officer Lt. Col. Kevin Tyler.
The site is located on Dornbierer Crescent in the Heritage neighbourhood west of Tabor Boulevard North and on the eastern border of Moore's Meadow.
Tyler wanted to assure concerned neighbours that a public meeting would be held to air any issues. Some have already made contact, he said, in support and in opposition.
One of the opponents, Chuck Fraser, wrote a letter to city council expressing his concerns.
"This is wrong on so many levels," Fraser's letter said. "We have a quiet neighbourhood. Allowing the military to reside here with their military vehicles and training is a big mistake. Soon, they will take over Moore's Meadow for war games and no one will be allowed to hike there...This would be a major disturbance to the community and the families of this area...There will be mock war games and the shooting of dummy bullets. There will be 60 or more militia personal training three days a week or more. My friends, this is not right for anyone's neighborhood."
Tyler addressed some of those concerns immediately.
"It's not noisy. There are no war games," he said. "It will be less traffic than when it was a school, and less traffic even than when it was used by [former lease holders] Northern Health."
Tyler said shooting and war simulations would be conducted outside the city. The vehicles used by the RMR would be fewer than a half-dozen common pickup trucks, not armoured personnel carriers.
What would take place at the school would be classroom-based lectures, marching drills and basic manoeuvres (without gunfire) in the sports field.
The structure of the school would undergo some benign renovations inside, but minimal changes to the exterior, he explained.
Tyler said Moore's Meadow did offer a place to perhaps do some compass training once in a while, but nothing disruptive to the public. If some rare, special, training event were held there, he said, it would be preceded by ample public notice.
"People expressing concerns is not unexpected partially because we have not been involved in engaging the public, other than for those we hope to recruit," he said. "Whatever site we choose, we intend to be good neighbours over and above what the bylaws allow."
The RMR group is offering a night in mid- to late-September to hold a public meeting on the subject. They are loosely contemplating a Thursday or Saturday night, but are open to suggestions from the neighbours. Anyone wishing input on a preferred date or topics to be covered can contact Lt. Seth Hunter at 250-851-4896 / [email protected].
As an additional assurance, said Tyler, "We don't see Meadow school as the long-term answer for the Rocky Mountain Rangers, only for the next three to five years while we get our initial numbers up and running."
Other communities with a neighbourhood militia presence have actually considered it an added security feature, he said, with public service-minded people spending regular time there.
