Red Deer City Coun. Vesna Higham is hopeful that the decision to seek more public input on a permanent shelter will restore some trust in the process.
Higham proposed a motion at Monday night’s council meeting to gather feedback from the community on what criteria they want council to consider before a site is chosen. A June 20 deadline was set to complete consultation.
By July 18, council committed to making a decision on a permanent shelter site, an issue that council has been struggling with for more than a year.
Council appeared to have settled on a location earlier this year. However, after an independent report by Maven Strategy revealed much opposition to the proposed permanent shelter site on city-owned land at 4934-54 Ave, along the Red Deer River and close to the new Capstone development, council dropped that location from further consideration in March.
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The Maven Strategy report also revealed that some focus group participants felt the city was not listening to the community and the city had lost the public’s trust because of a perceived lack of transparency because much discussion took place behind closed doors.
Higham said that is a perception her motion was aimed at changing.
“I think that is the real win in this situation. We are making good on our commitment to engage the community in genuine and authentic consultation,” she said.
“We want to hear what you have to say. Where do you think a facility like this belongs? Does it belong in the downtown? What do you think would be the appropriate criteria for council to make that decision.”
“Now, we’re trying a different way to engage the community and to reestablish that trust and to try to a move this project along with the community, not in a kind of cone of silence in camera,” she said.
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Higham, who at first had proposed even tighter timelines to gather information and make a decision but agreed to a compromise, said it comes down to a balance of giving the public a chance to provide their thoughts with the need to get the project moving.
The city says it will notify the public of upcoming opportunities to provide input through social media, website postings, email and advertising. Residents who want to get on the email list for regular shelter updates can email shelter@reddeer.ca. For more information go to reddeer.ca/shelter.
Higham’s motion also called on the city to include information on a potential site on city-owned land on Riverside Drive just north of 67th Street on its website. Higham said at one time the site was shortlisted but appears to have fallen out of the mix of potential locations because it was not serviced.
While Higham believes the site could work and has asked city staff to provide an estimate on servicing costs, she wants to be clear that she and other council members remain open to all possible sites and are not picking favourites until all consultation is complete.