By Alessia Proietti

April 15: Development of public engagement plan

Downtown location off table for permanent shelter; public consultations instead

Mar 8, 2022 | 10:03 AM

Red Deer city council has agreed to revisit its permanent shelter plans with a “clean slate”, prioritizing public consultation over the proposed downtown location (4934 54 Avenue).

Decided at a special meeting of council on Monday, administration will now put together a full public engagement strategy to present for council’s consideration by April 15.

“Coming out of those meetings, we know there is support for a shelter in our community, it is needed. We heard we need to keep momentum and close information differentials,” said Interim City Manager Tara Lodewyk. “We also heard that our community wants to help and come together to develop solutions. We are committing to continuing to build on this common ground to engage to rebuild trust and move forward together to find the right solution for a permanent shelter in our community alongside the province.”

Council discussed the “What we Heard” report conducted by third-party engagement specialist Maven where seven meetings were hosted with 28 downtown property owners, businesses, associations, and service providers regarding their thoughts on the permanent shelter process.

In summary, all groups acknowledged the need for a shelter and the desire to work collaboratively through meaningful and transparent conversations to find the best solution. The nearby business owners, deemed strongly opposed to the downtown shelter location, described the negative effects, like vandalism, felt in the area from the temporary shelter and feel they have not been heard by the City. The service agencies, mainly in support of the proposed location, expressed frustration with the ongoing process and worry losing the $7-million fund by the provincial government for the shelter.

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As the provincial deadline of March 31 for a site location selection has been postponed, The City recommended further public engagement prior to putting forward any Land Use Bylaw recommendations.

The goal is said to reduce the “us vs. them mentality” to a more collaborative approach, discussing site locations, design, and other solutions proposed by the broader community.

“Council is in a position that we will have to make a generational decision about the location and overarching design guidelines of the permanent shelter in Red Deer, and this is a decision we do not take lightly,” said Mayor Ken Johnston. “When the time comes, we need to make sure we not only have all the information about the services and site needed to make the right decision, but also that people who are impacted by the decision have had the opportunity to be involved in the decision-making process through further engagement.”

Councillor Bruce Buruma touched upon the report’s finding that the public had a “lack of clarity” about what an “integrated” shelter actually consisted of.

“Is there a potential, similar to the Child Advocacy Centre, whereby those essential services that people are needing will be available there [at the shelter]? I believe that in such a model, then that would allow us greater flexibility in regards to where we can place this,” he said. “Do they need to go to the services or can the services come to the people that need those? And to me that’s where I felt the word ‘integrated’ was.”

City Manager Lodewyk confirmed that, as part of the transparency process, specific site locations are no longer on the table. Instead, the general areas of the other site locations debated in-camera will be shared with the public for discussion.

Councillor Vesna Higham concluded that she was on the fence about the engagement process as the public has already voiced their opinions on the matter, dating back to consultations on the temporary shelter.

“We saw consultation fatigue and citizen burnout by repeatedly going back again and again and again to those same individuals asking for their opinion around shelter,” she said. “This group has spoken loudly and clearly that they oppose having any permanent shelter in the downtown core.”

If approved in April, the public engagement plan will be implemented immediately. The timeline for a decision on a permanent shelter site is still undetermined.

For more information on shelter services in Red Deer, please visit www.reddeer.ca/shelter.