Thunder Bay city council reconsidering temporary shelter village site

Thunder Bay city council is again reconsidering its choice for the location of a proposed temporary shelter village.

At its April 7 meeting, city council selected a site on Cumberland Street North as the location for the village, which would support the city's unhoused population.

However, when it came time to ratify that decision at its meeting Monday, council instead directed administration to examine Kam River Heritage Park, and a parcel of land on Fort William Road that's owned by the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority (LRCA), as potential locations for the village.

Both sites have been previously considered by city council.

A report is due back on April 28.

"It's got to work and it's got to be set up for success," Current River Coun. Andrew Foulds said on CBC's Superior Morning on Tuesday. "I think that there are a number of pieces to that.

"For me, the biggest thing is making sure that there are services close to some of our most-vulnerable citizens," he said. "And services aren't just social services, although those are really, really important. It's proximity to other services that everyday people engage [with]."

Foulds explained city administration will create a report over the next two weeks and make another recommendation to council.

Councillors were considering the Kam River Heritage Park site last fall. At the time, city administration recommended a location on Miles Street East over the Kam River park site; council voted against that recommendation in the fall.

That led to administration coming back with a recommendation for the Fort William Road site, which is across from the CLE grounds.

Given the land is owned by the LRCA, the city would need to sign a lease. A report to council presented in early April noted a number of advantages to the location:

• The size.
• Proximity to support services.
• Readiness for construction (the land is flat and clear, and close to existing services like power and water).
• Emergency access.
• Safety considerations (the village would be fenced in, and security and support services on-site 24/7).

The Fort William Road site was up for an approval vote on April 7. However, council instead approved the Cumberland Street North site at that meeting.

That brings everything back to Monday, when instead of ratifying the Cumberland Street North decision — which would have allowed the project to move forward at that location — councillors instead went back to the Kam River and Fort William Road properties as possible locations.

There is a time consideration as well. The city has budgeted $5 million to construct the village but would be eligible for external funding if they meet certain timelines.

Those include having a certain number of units built by December. The city's encampment response lead, Rilee Willianen, has said the city will be able to meet that timeline if construction starts by July.

However, on Monday, Thunder Bay city manager John Collin said that won't be possible if council doesn't make a final decision on a site by April 28, as council would still need to ratify its decision on May 5.

If the matter stretches beyond May 5, Collin said, "there is no path forward."

The city has also budgeted $1.5 million annually to operate the village.