No, it’s not an apocalyptic development, but a report from Richard and Belgraviawatch on a meeting held at City Hall on Friday, October 24th regarding the Keillor Road site and partying and illegal activity there:

On Friday I met with representatives of our city council from Ben Henderson’s and Don Iveson’s(Dan Nielson) office along with Parks and Sgt. Miller and Const. McFatridge to discuss the issues around the “end of the world” area from a safety, security and public nuisance issue.

I stopped to update two of Saskatchewan Drive residents later that evening only to find out that one of them had run into three men coming out of the bushes at 4:20 am on last Wednesday morning; fortunately he had his dogs with him.

I would like to know of any other events that may have occured in the past month so that we may be aware of other issues that are occuring on an ongoing basis but may not be reported.

The area is under surveillance, and any reports are taken seriously by the EPS. Calls will be placed in a queue depending on the priority. They are classed as a public disorder type of event.

The activity appears to be down this year over last. The area can be found on Facebook, Wikimapia and other sites on the internet. It is a novelty.  People from Spruce Grove and other areas have been drawn to the site. The Edmonton Fire Rescue group has had to effect an extraction out of there, when someone fell off the cliff. They were surprised he survived.

Thus, keep reporting when you see suspicious vehicles or suspicious activities. The area is basically off limits and fines can be levied to people entering the area.  It is an unstable/unpredictable area and is still moving. Parks does put up and replace signs and fencing. That is a continuous process for them.  There is potential to consider a planning mechanism to deal with the issue which will require involvement from the neighbourhood, EPS, Parks, etc. This will take place over time.

So: please keep the calls and letters (email) coming… if there are events occuring which are unusual and inappropriate for the area. Any vehicles in the no stopping zone are an opportunity for the police to find out who is there and what is going on.

I have had great response times on some evenings. Only very occasionally do I get an odd response from the call center. But each call does count and forms part of the data that is collected.

• Air 1 does cover the river zone from time to time,
• Parks can see activity from across the river when they are locking up the boat ramp.
• Dogwalkers are continuously in the area.
• EPS does send cars through the area from time to time keeping a lookout for anything out of the ordinary.

There are eyes on the area. Let’s make them count. Thank you.