Meadow Lake city council is one step closer to allowing a temporary shelter downtown. (file photo/meadowlakeNOW.com)

By Ian Roach

EMERGENCY SHELTER

Meadow Lake city council moves forward to allow a temporary shelter downtown

Nov 21, 2022 | 4:39 PM

Meadow Lake city council has taken the first step toward allowing a temporary emergency shelter for a section in the downtown area known as MU1. The motion was carried unanimously at a special council meeting held Monday afternoon.

The city will now ask for input over the next couple of weeks and hold a public hearing on Dec. 12. Council members hope to approve the bylaw at the same meeting.

City of Meadow Lake City Manager Diana Burton said the city wants to be ready to respond in case they receive a request from a community group for an emergency shelter.

“It was really precipitated by some conversations with a group in our community, the Homelessness Coalition. There is the potential we may see an application for an emergency shelter this winter. As the zoning bylaw stands today, we would have to decline it because it is not permitted anywhere,” Burton said.

If approved, the bylaw would amend an existing bylaw to allow for the operation of an emergency shelter in the downtown area for a maximum of six months.

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The shelter could operate between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. There is a mechanism to allow the shelter to temporarily change the hours of operation in the event of extreme weather that could pose a danger to people.

Meadow Lake Outreach Ministries Executive Director Natanis Bundschuh said there is a real need for a shelter in Meadow Lake, noting temperatures will drop soon.

“I’m excited. We’ve been trying to achieve this for literally years – so to get some forward movement is really encouraging,” Bundschuh said.

Meadow Lake Outreach Ministries is working with the Homeless Coalition to move a shelter project forward.

Bundschuh added there is a growing need for some sort of shelter because there are several homeless people in the city and the demand is there.

Last winter, several homeless who needed a place to stay ended up seeking shelter in a dilapidated hotel downtown. Burton said the city does not want to end up in a situation like that again because it is unsafe and takes up a lot of city resources to deal with it.

Residents can provide input on the proposed changes until Dec. 8. The public hearing will take place at city council’s Dec. 12 meeting.