Homeless Encampment in front of Kam River Heritage Park - (Screen Capture/Google Maps)
Thunder Bay’s city council has opted to look at another location for the city’s Temporary Shelter Village Initiative.
At the April 7 Committee of the Whole meeting, council voted in favour of a wooded area beside the Salvation Army Journey For Life Centre.
At Monday night’s, city council meeting, the matter was set to be ratified, but council declined to approve the item.
This brought a piece of land owned by the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority (LRCA), located at 1111 Fort William Road, back into the conversation.
At-Large Councillor Kasey Etreni proposed a referral to city administration to have them compare the LRCA location and a site at Kam River Heritage Park.
The LRCA site had to be included in the referral, as when the Cumberland location was declined, it returned as the administration recommendation.
The LRCA site would have to be leased, meaning the city would be responsible for building infrastructure on a plot of land they do not own.
Administration has deemed Kam River as one of the most suitable locations for the village but opted against officially proposing the site due to costs.
“We could get 80 units for five to five and a half million which gives us a unit cost of about $69,000 (per unit at Kam River) and the other site I guess we could get 100 units for 5 million which is $50,000 per unit (at the LRCA Lands),” explained At-Large Councillor Mark Bentz. “Which is you know, that represents a 38% increase in cost per unit if you go to the more expensive site (Kam River).”
The referral was approved, and administration is set to bring a report back including their recommendation between the two options at the April 28 Committee of the Whole Meeting.
Mayor Boshcoff and Councillors Aiello, Ch’ng, Foulds, Etreni, Hamilton, Oliver, Pasqualino, and Zussino approved the referral.
Councillors Agarwal, Bentz, and Giertuga voted against.
“We’re going to be taking an unmanaged, a bit of a problematic encampment site at Kam River Park and providing 24 hour supports security fencing lighting food like all kinds of things that people need to succeed to at least stabilize to get rid of some of that volatility it’s the volatility ultimately and it’s causing a lot of the anxiety in the community,” said McKellar Ward Councillor Brian Hamilton.
“Otherwise, and the reason why I support the site back down here in the south core is because without this site here, you’re going to have the same issues persisting you’re going to have people sleeping in doorways there gonna be sleeping in congregating in the bus shelters which we see right now.”
The city has secured over $2.8 million in external funding, covering more than half of the project’s costs.
To receive this funding, construction must begin within 120 days of the agreement being signed, and at least 80 units must be built by the end of 2025.
City council has to approve a new location at the April 28 Committee of the Whole meeting if they do not want to risk the funding, according to administration.
