Hamilton city council passes vote to make Tiffany Street lot temporary shelter site скачать в хорошем качестве

Hamilton city council passes vote to make Tiffany Street lot temporary shelter site

Hamilton’s city council has formally approved its plan to provide new homes and shelter beds for its homeless population. Part of the plan that was passed on Tuesday included designating a city-owned lot on Tiffany Street near Barton Street East as a temporary housing shelter that the city will fill with “tiny homes.” Currently, a settlement of tents has occupied the adjacent lot for several months. The location of the planned temporary outdoor shelter site (Courtesy of the City of Hamilton). The plan is expected to cost $7 million, but the city council’s vote on Wednesday was not unanimous. “Hamilton taxpayer money used to be spent to benefit Hamilton residents,” Ward 14 Councillor Mike Spadafora said. “I don’t think any of my comments in regards to ensuring, or not supporting money being spent on people who don’t live in our city — again, if its money from the provincial or federal government, spend away, that’s their job — not our job,” Spadafora added. He says it isn’t the job of Hamilton taxpayers to bail out the federal and provincial governments and “all the municipalities that are unwilling” to build their own shelters. Alongside the vote on putting aside a space at a city-owned property on Tiffany Street near Barton Street East, there was another vote to create seven new full-time city staff positions to oversee the project. Those positions will be made up of one case aid worker, one housing support worker, four emergency shelter case managers and one senior project manager — at a cost of $800,000 per year. Mayor Andrea Horwath says it’s what the city can do without more help from the federal and provincial governments. Ward 5 Councillor Matt Francis, who opposed both plans, said there’s no guarantee that the move to create a temporary shelter site will draw people away from the many encampments throughout Hamilton. “I cannot justify to my residents who’ve been struggling every single day to spend $7 million of their hard-earned tax dollars,” he said. “There’s drugs happening in our parks. People doing drugs.” Ward 12 Councillor Craig Cassar said the city is trying to manage an unprecedented crisis and wants to help the homeless. Ultimately, the plan will now move forward with a hope to get some of the structures built before the winter. Horwath has acknowledged that it could take several years to complete.