A local resident expressed concerns about drug use in the washroom at City of Quinte West’s municipal offices and library after her husband spotted two people using needles at the facility.
Cheyenne Hennessy spoke to council during the public input session of its meeting on Wednesday.
She says her husband returned to the library to pick up an item that had been left behind from an event she and her homeschooling group had attended.
When her husband arrived, he noticed that the washroom doors were closed.
He entered the bathroom to find two men using “intravenous drugs with their paraphernalia strewn about the counter.”
Hennessy says her husband immediately left the washroom and informed the library of what he spotted.
“After informing me of what he had experienced, we both sat together, quite shocked, given our 13-year-old son uses that washroom alone regularly, and we take our four-year-old son to use it as well,” Hennessy told council.
“Obviously, this poses a massive problem, given that drug paraphernalia on a surface can leave behind residues and grains of fentanyl, which could kill a child or an adult, not to mention the fact that no child should have to witness the underbelly of society when we are going to our public library or their own city hall.”
A police report was filed and Hennessy spoke with library staff following the incident.
Hennessy asked council to look into the hiring of a security guard for the building.
“We need a deterrent. It’s not just for our children, it’s for the staff, it’s for yourselves, it’s for your families and our janitors that have to clean those bathrooms. So it’s for our whole community that I’m asking this.”
Quinte West Mayor Jim Harrison said he wasn’t aware of drug use in the washroom being a consistent issue in the building but said he would look into organizing a meeting with CAO David Clazie to look further into the issue.
“I’ve been here a long time, and I haven’t seen it so and I use the washroom periodically, but you know, we’ll certainly take a look at it.”
Harrison noted that while council was willing to look into the issue, he noted that if anyone notices any sort of illegal activity that is spotted in the building to call police.
After some heated moments regarding the length of Hennessy’s public input (residents are limited to three minutes to speak during public input) a short break was ordered.
Following the break and another member of the public giving their public input showing support for Hennessy and her group, CAO Clazie said he spoke with members of Hennessy’s group to organize a time to look into the issue.
Clazie said they would then take the issue further, depending on how the meeting goes.
