City of Powell River Council’s committee of the whole has directed staff to report to council regarding city-owned buildings, bare lands or parking lots that may be suitable as an interim measure for emergency sheltering.
At a March 18 meeting, councillor Trina Isakson, in response to a media release from Lift Community Services regarding the emergency shelter’s closure, said she would like to hear from staff on any city-related solutions as an interim measure, and made the motion for the staff report.
“The emergency shelter, which has 20 beds, has an expiring lease and they are closing on March 26,” said Isakson. “While we passed a council motion, giving BC Housing notification that we are willing to let them investigate the Barnet Street site for a temporary emergency shelter and long-term affordable housing, it wouldn’t be in place in six days from now.”
Isakson said she knows Lift has been working hard to secure a new spot for a shelter, and has not been successful, so there is going to be a gap in services.
“What I anticipate this resulting in is impact for a number of different segments of our population,” said Isakson. “There have been 56 unique individuals who have used shelter services this year, so those people will have to find different arrangements to sleep overnight. For some people, that may mean sheltering in places that are just not very suitable or healthy. That concerns me.
“My intention for this is to understand if there are city sites that could be appropriate as an interim measure. I want to see if there are suitable places that could be part of a solution.”
Councillor George Doubt said next week there is going to be a group of people sheltered now who are not going to be sheltered then.
“They are not going to disappear,” said Doubt. “There are people in the community who are using the shelter now. The shelter is going to cease to exist. The people who are running the shelter have been looking for appropriate places they could rent or lease, and now they are appealing to the city for locations.”
Mayor Ron Woznow said the city owns 160 properties, and since November 2022, he has been urging council to look at the report that the city paid $40,000 for, which distilled 160 units down to 25. He said it carefully laid out potential uses for those properties.
“Had we decided to utilize just one of those properties, we could have included a number of requirements, including shelter,” said Woznow. “I am going to urge council to go back and look at the 160 properties, read the report, and be ready to make a decision.”
Councillor Rob Southcott said what is happening regarding the closure of the emergency shelter has been feared for years. He said he recognizes that the motion addresses an emergency.
“I’m hoping the weather gets warmer, because people are in tents, and people are going to be outside, and that is going to have a greater impact than anything that people have noticed so far,” said Southcott. “I hope there are some opportunities we can embrace when staff brings us back a report.”
Council unanimously endorsed staff bring back a report to council on city locations suitable as an interim measure for emergency sheltering.
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