Nanaimo City Council voted on Monday to amend the service agreement for the Downtown Vandalism Relief Grant program.
Businesses in the downtown area will now be able to apply more than twice a year and receive up to $2,500 per incident up to a maximum of $5,000 per year. This money may also include up to 50 per cent of the cost of installation of security and preventative measures to a maximum of $1,000.
Corry Gervais is the CEO of the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce that manages the program. She spoke to CHLY saying this program is needed because across the country, there has been a larger-than-normal increase in vandalism especially in downtown cores.
CHLY also spoke with two other downtown business owners about how vandalism has affected them.
