Frank Azotini has made it his personal mission to rid the city of as many discarded needles as he can.

“One officer told me that here in Welland alone they get two overdose calls, every day. He said these sites are all over Welland and I’ve come across quite a few of them and I report them,” said Azotini.

The 57-year-old retired auto worker says he’s noticed growing amounts of drug paraphernalia on his daily walks through Welland and says the clean-up response from city workers has been slow.

Mayor Frank Campion says the city is taking every measure possible to deal with the issue.

Positive Living will host St. Catharines’ first overdose prevention site, which Campion says he’ll be keeping a close eye on.

“If that’s what it takes and it’s proven that it works, absolutely we want to do everything within our power to stop this epidemic of needles all over the place,” he said.

Now that the provincial government has lifted a pause on the sites, Positive Living is looking to have their location up and running by December.