After getting direction from city council last week, a public meeting about homeless shelters is in the works, according to City Manager Maryse Carmichael.
During city council’s July 8 meeting, a 200-page petition was presented asking for a public meeting to discuss the construction and operation of Souls Harbour Rescue Mission at 212 to 218 River St. W. The petition also asked that the city consider rezoning the property to a contract zoning district for commercial purposes and not community services or supportive housing and that Souls Harbour Rescue Mission find an alternate location.
Under the Cities Act, city council would have to act if five per cent of the population signed the petition or a minimum of 1,683 signatures would be needed. The petition had 1,308 signatures that were compliant with the Cities Act, making the petition insufficient.
City council did act on the petition by calling a more general meeting to discuss future locations of homeless shelters, the homelessness situation in the city, addictions, and public safety around the downtown core.
“There is an issue like we are seeing worldwide, the increase of homelessness and some social issues. We’re not immune to it sadly and we need to have a discussion on what we can do,” Carmichael said.
Carmichael said this public meeting will be a chance for residents to have their voices heard on this subject.
“The public meeting, just to make it clear, is a time for council to listen to the input from residents, from business owners, from people that will be there. It is not binding, but it’s a communication and discussion avenue,” Carmichael said.
The meeting has been scheduled for July 29.
“If we were going to go with the normal Cities Act, if the petition would have been sufficient, then this public meeting would have happened within 30 days of council making the decision. You can expect it to be close to that, even though we don’t have to follow the Act because the petition was insufficient,” said Carmichael.