Assessments of new Thunder Bay temporary shelter village site underway

The City of Thunder Bay is moving ahead with site assessments at the new location for its temporary shelter village, with hopes of starting construction next month.

Thunder Bay city council chose the Hillyard site — located at the end of Alloy Place — at its meeting last week.

"A number of assessments are currently underway," said Cynthia Olsen, the city's director of strategy and engagement.

"They include archeological assessment, environmental impact studies, environmental site assessment, flood assessment, and we'll also be conducting an on site safety assessment like we've done with other locations with community partners," Olsen said. "Once we get through those phases, we'll be able to review the findings, discuss any mitigation measures that might be required and then move into design."

The village, when complete, will include 80 sleeping cabins for use by the city's unhoused population, as well as on-site support services to help them transition to permanent housing.

Olsen said the city has issued requests for proposal for the design and construction of the village, and its operation.

"The design-build RFP was extended to Aug. 1 really to give the proponents time to reassess what they were submitting based on the new site location," she said. "The operator RFP is still in process and we're in a blackout. So I can't say anything further than that."

City council has considered many potential sites for the village over the last year.

In the case of Hillyard, it was brought forward last Monday by Coun. Mark Bentz after council declined to ratify its earlier approval of a location on Miles Street East.

The city has budgeted about $5 million for the construction of the village and $1.5 million annually for operations. However, if they meet certain construction and occupancy timelines, they'll be eligible for $2.8 million in provincial funding.

Olsen said the city hopes to see construction start in August.

She said there's a possibility that the village may be able to recoup some costs through rent charged to some of its residents, depending on their financial situations.

"We will anticipate that some individuals will be in receipt of Ontario Works, Ontario Disability Support Program, potentially even Old Age Security, and be able to contribute their shelter portion towards the rental cost," she said. "But that will not be a requirement to be admitted.

"It wouldn't be just like a regular landlord," Olsen said. "This is a program that would meet the exemption criteria under the Residential Tenancy Act.

"It would provide services like life skills, employment or health services. And by doing so, by providing those components of a program, you would be exempt under the Residential Tenancy Act."

Lower ranking

The Hillyard site scored 73 per cent on the city's ranked site analysis. The rankings list a number of strengths for the Hillyard site: it's municipally owned, large enough to fit the needed number of units and accessible by emergency services.

In addition, the use of the site doesn't interfere with any city growth goals and there are currently no active municipal uses of the site.

However, there are some challenges with the site as well, including its distance from transit and external supportive services, its "very low" readiness for construction (the site is currently a treed lot), as well as its distance from established encampments. Also the site is considered high risk in terms of safety due to high traffic, proximity to "sensitive use areas," industrial businesses and a rail corridor.

"Certainly we are aware that nearby businesses have concerns and we are very open to engaging," Olsen said. "We are actually working towards doing a specific session for the nearby businesses, with date, time and location all to be determined.

"But we are working with the support of the Chamber of Commerce who has been connected with those businesses."

Olsen said the city will also be establishing a neighbourhood liaison committee.

"This will allow the opportunity for two way communication between the local businesses, residents, the city and the operator, and it gives us a point of contact."

The Miles Street East site, meanwhile, scored 87 per cent in the city's ranked site analysis (it was the highest-scoring site), with the city citing its proximity to support services and encampments, safety, space, and accessibility by emergency services as strengths.

"I definitely support the project in general, the idea of it, as long as it's temporary and it leads to permanent housing," said Brendan Carlin, executive director of Shelter House, which is near the Miles Street East site.

Concerns over distance

Carlin said Miles Street East was his preferred location for the village.

"I feel like [Hillyard] was chosen quite suddenly and because of the funding constraints, there wasn't a real good debate around it," Carlin said. "My personal concerns about it would be distance.

"We are a soup kitchen, so we feed people here, a lot of the people that are going to be in this village," he said. "We're a long way from there. And the other large soup kitchen is on the other side of town, Dew Drop Inn, and it's about the same distance away from them as well.

"I don't think it's the best spot, but it can be made to be a good spot. And maybe we can figure something out to to make those other issues not as as important."