City council votes to rescind proposed sober shelter decision

By Lethbridge Herald on November 30, 2022.

Herald photo by Al Beeber Council on Tuesday unanimously rescinded its Aug. 9 motion calling on administration to apply for development approval for a sober shelter at the Civic Centre.

Al Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

A proposal to use the old Civic Centre curling rink as a sober shelter has been put on ice with city council directing administration to revisit the issue.

Council on Tuesday unanimously rescinded its Aug. 9 motion calling on administration to apply for development approval for a sober shelter at the Civic Centre. Instead it is now asking administration to look at other potential sites as well as the Civic Centre and report back to the Cultural and Social Standing Policy Committee. Council also directed the mayor to write a letter to the province requesting support for funding opportunities and site selections.

The Aug. 9 decision had been approved by a 6-2 margin.

In a report accepted as information Tuesday that was presented by Chief of Staff Carly Kleisinger, council heard the earliest the Civic Centre likely could have been made ready for shelter use would have been the fall of 2023.

The report included results from open house discussions and an online survey conducted by the City to get public feedback on the suggested location which was recommended by city council in a 6-2 vote on Aug. 9 calling on administration to apply for development approval for a sober shelter at the Civic Centre.

When asked by councillor John Middleton-Hope how many residents showed support for the proposed location, Kaitlin Barr of the Communication and Engagement department responded that the engagement process wasn’t designed to ascertain that.

Concerns arose during discussions about the how the Civic Centre building fits in with plans for the Civic Commons with mayor Blaine Hyggen asking if council would be investing  money  for a couple of years into a property that would be at some point demolished.

Kleisinger told council the building – which includes an operational ice rink – is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2030.

“The current approach is that we would be keeping Civic Ice Centre in use until the next arena is constructed. So currently that would be an unfunded project in the CIP to start in 2027 that would be completed around 2029. So Civic would then be decommissioned in 2030. There’s no indication right now of structural issues. The life expectancy is dependent upon community need for usage,” Kleisinger responded.

Deputy mayor Ryan Parker, who made the motion to rescind the Aug. 9 decision, told council it’s important to have a thorough conversation about the location.

“It’s important that we have a thorough conversation and debate regarding this because as most people know, this was a pretty big issue in August, if not the months leading up to the decision council made in August,” Parker he said.

“Obviously, the issue isn’t there happening right now” but there are people still at risk in the city, Parker said.

Parker said the consultation process had value because “what we heard is pros and cons to the shelter location. There wasn’t a matter of a majority of people saying we don’t want it there and all that. But what we did is we had a greater community conversation when we had those open houses regarding the issue itself, people at risk, the shelter, addictions and so it became a really wholesome conversation and I think it was encapsulated in the report,” added the deputy mayor.

“But I do believe that some people have been left out of the process who want to be able to speak in regards to that. I don’t think it was on purpose but there’s a lot of people that had a lot of valid points, not only In regards to not only the possible shelter but the whole issue of shelter in general in our community and we go about it as a community,” said Parker.

He said by voting to rescind the motion, council is asking provincial partners to work with the City to help find the appropriate location.

“If we’re going to do this, let’s do it right,” he added.

Parker said people using tents at the site are still at risk and a sense of urgency still exists but council needs to go back to the drawing board and look at all sites.

“Let’s find an appropriate location.”

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