Residents of Murray Harbour met Monday to discuss a growing problem of youth vandalism. (Province of P.E.I.) Residents of Murray Harbour, in eastern P.E.I., have decided to take a hands-on approach to a growing vandalism problem in the community.
About two dozen of the village's 350 residents attended a community meeting on Monday night to discuss recent incidents of vandalism. These include damage to boats at the wharf, dugouts at the local ballfield and pop machines at the gas station.
Officials said they are aware the problem involves a specific group of young people.
"We are going to approach some of the kids that we know of, because we're only talking about a handful of kids here," said village administrator Joan Young. "We just need to work with them and maybe get them involved in something, maybe a cycling program or some kind of a sport."
At Monday's meeting, a decision was made to form a committee to take the youth engagement strategy forward.
"We'd like to include the kids in a meeting and… see what we can do, if we can work with them, and see what they want," Young said.
Police will not be involved in the discussions with the young people, she said. The community hopes that a face-to-face approach will be all that is needed.
"At this point, we'd just like to build up a rapport with the kids."
