Cost to clean needles from Winnipeg parks could cost up to $262K

A new report says the city could hire staff to inspect inner city parks and playgrounds for needles and knives, but any plans would come with a price tag.

A new report says the city could hire staff to inspect inner city parks and playgrounds for needles and knives, but any plans would come with a price tag.

Area daycares who use Central Park raised concerns to Coun. Cindy Gilroy about a growing number of discarded weapons and needles on the ground.

In February, Gilroy asked the city's public service for a plan to clean up these dangerous items from inner city parks.

"You know they're finding all these things in parks and they're not safe for the kids to play at," said Gilroy.

The public service has released a report, it said to focus on 32 locations, mostly parks and playgrounds, two options could be explored.

Option one would cost $193,704 to hire two crews to inspect the parks between April and October. The second option would cost $262,884 to have one crew work year round, the other April to October.

But Gilroy is disappointed with the report. She’s worried this will be a hard sell.