THUNDER BAY — With the fate of the Hillyard lands in limbo, city staff say the shelter village may not be ready to keep anyone off the streets this winter.
City Manager John Collin told council that work on the city’s shelter village project will be delayed at least two weeks because a motion to reconsider the site decision is on the table. If the motion passes, the delay will be longer and the project won’t be built this year.
Collin was responding to a question from Coun. Brian Hamilton, at the Sept. 2 council meeting, spoke about the consequences of delaying site work for two weeks.
“I just want some kind of confirmation on that tonight. The gravity of the situation is that we’ve essentially killed the project,” Hamilton said.
Collin said the consequences will depend on how long the delay is.
“I think it’s fair to say. If we’re talking about a new site eventually, the construction will not happen until next spring. Categorically, we will be well beyond the point unless we want to pay exorbitant costs to do winter construction of sewer and water lines,” Collin said.
“So, a new site for sure, we’re talking about construction next spring, if the decision remains at Hillyard after the debate, there is still a likelihood that we’re talking about construction next spring. We still have to tender out all this work.”
Red River ward Coun. Michael Zussino’s request to suspend the procedure and debate the motion on Sept. 2, without the required notice period, lost in a tie vote; therefore, the debate on whether to drop the Hillyard site will happen at the next city council meeting on Sept. 16.
Coun. Mark Bentz asked administration if they could provide alternative sites to council next week if the Hillyard site decision is reversed.
“You could advise us on the sites and come back with some sort of recommendation. Would you take that upon yourself as good management and to give good advice to council when the notice of motion comes forward in its proper time?” Bentz said.
First, said Collin, he would need the support of council to begin that work because, so far, city staff were tasked with getting the work done to build the shelter village on the Hillyard site.
However, now that Zussino’s motion has put a pause on all plans to get the site ready for construction, they could begin to explore other sites, but cautioned council that they still “could not complete it” by the next council meeting, Collin said.
“We cannot do the analysis of possible other sites and also do the necessary consultation not only with the public but with our subject matter experts and our service providers, in two weeks. That is a bridge too far. Again, we could begin it, but we would never be able to complete it in time for the next council meeting,” Collin said.
Collin asked council for a short recess to confer with city staff on whether or not they should ask for council’s permission to pursue the additional work of looking for new sites before the decision to drop Hillyard or not.
Collin said at best, city staff will look at new sites “at a very low level internally,” but essentially, it is not possible to recommend new sites in such a short amount of time.
“It’s just too quick. The most obvious sites have been expended at this point in time, so a fair amount of analysis and research will have to be undertaken. As we explore new sites that we have identified on our list and potentially some other innovative ideas that maybe we overlooked in the past, we need more time than two weeks to put all that together,” Collin said.
Ultimately, the directive to research alternative sites was not given.
“I just want to make sure that council understands that. And that they’re not providing me, and by extension administration, any explicit direction to come back in two weeks with alternatives. Because I do not believe we can get there from here, or even suggestions of possible alternatives would be premature.”
