Motion to wind down region's Erbs Road hybrid shelter 'too premature,' councillors say

Wilmot Mayor Natasha Salonen says regional staff need to develop a plan to wind down the Erbs Road hybrid shelter, but some regionalcouncillors disagreed, saying it'stoo early to discuss it.

Salonenpresented a notice of motion during a community and health services committee at a meeting Tuesday requesting regional staff to look at next steps.

The shelteropened last spring and is made up of 50 small cabinsand a shared living space. The shelter was given two years to operate, but there is no current plan in place onwhat next steps will be once the deadline comes.

Salonen's motionasked staff to work with service providers to have a plan to relocate encampment residents to a new location no later than April 2025 and for staff to come back to council with potential sites by May 2024.

"I just want to make sure we have a plan in place so come the two-year mark, the individuals who will presumably be using the resources and the site at that timearen't left in the lurch and that we have a place for them to go," Salonentold CBC Kitchener-Waterloo'sThe Morning Editionahead of the meeting.

She added the shelter was not hooked up to the waterwaste system in the area and so has limited capacity. She said oneoption staff could have come back with wasto look at upgrading the pump station that serves the paramedic services building at the site and include the shelter in that system.

She told councillorsWilmot's building department plans to give notice at the end of the two years thatthe shelter will not be allowed on site since there is a timeline on how long they can use the current temporary waste solution under the building code.

The Morning Edition - K-W7:22Wilmot Mayor Natasha Salonen wants to see a plan on how Erbs Road encampment will wind down

Wilmot Mayor Natasha Salonen says regional staff need to create a plan for how the region plans to wind down the Erbs Road hybrid shelter. The shelter is made up of 50 cabins. It opened last spring and was given two years to operate. With 18 months left, the region doesn't have a plan in place on next steps.

'A little bit premature'

Several regional councillors during Tuesday's meeting, however, said they wouldn't support Salonen'smotion because it's too early to consider next steps.

"We're eightmonths into this site and I do believe that we need to have a plan in place for what potentially the steps would be and I also feel that it may be a little bit premature of anask right now given we aren't even a year in," Coun. Colleen James said.

"I would like to hear more as it progresses as to what's happening with the residents there."

Coun. Pam Wolf said it would also be putting pressure on residents who have made the encampment their home.

"By moving this motion, we're alarming them that OK, they're going to have to move again," she said.

"I think the way we want to move them is in a gradual way into permanent housing and I think that will be the natural way of ending this pilot project."

Salonen's motions was defeated.

Peter Sweeney, the region's commissioner of community services, said someinformation on the Erb's Road encampment will be part of a report coming to council before the end of April. That report will look athow to end chronic homelessness in the region.

He addeda fuller report on the encampment will be coming to council at a later date.

"The goal right now is to continue to run that program with our partners at the Working Centre, learn what we can and at some point come back and give council a full debrief and evaluation on what we learned and recommendationsabout the potential use of this type of program offering across Waterloo region," he said.