Meeting held April 16, 2024
No More Tears gives more info following funding request
No More Tears West Nipissing (NMTWN)’s executive made a presentation to council following their request for financial assistance in February. Presenters Josée Rainville, Delia Greenlees and Kim Keefer began with their mission statement to address the needs of homeless people with a particular focus on those facing mental health and addictions issues. The group assists with accessing social services, housing applications, necessities of life, while at the same time providing education and community awareness as to the conditions leading to homelessness. The group gave solid evidence of their own maturing process, providing details on their management, procedures, partnerships with other community organizations, and the outcomes of their efforts on behalf of the vulnerable unhoused population. They registered in December as a not-for-profit.
The group introduced their members who operate a soup kitchen, perform day and night outreach to the community, with a complement of 14 active volunteers. “Our community kitchen was opened in July of 2023 and currently operates twice a month and we’re hoping the future funding will be able to open a little bit more than just twice a month as the need is there”, said Rainville. The kitchen operates out of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church. “The number of homeless individuals is growing in West Nipissing. We currently have 42 individuals that are unhoused.” Those who have been temporarily accommodated will lose their accommodation on April 30th, she stressed.
Keefer addressed the issue of outreach training and compliance to provincial and legal standards for the volunteers involved, noting that NMTWN has extensive policies and procedures outlined in a 43-page document. “My role is to make sure the vulnerable are safe, the members of the group are safe, and the community is safe as well.” She added that their members have liability coverage as they use their own vehicles. The group has developed partnerships with other organizations in their outreach, which consists of providing food, wellness checks, assistance to make appointments (medical and otherwise), making sure those in need have blankets, clothing, “anything to keep them fed and warm”.
Keefer acknowledged, “We’ve partnered with these wonderful people, Our Lady of Sorrows, who provides us the space for our soup kitchen. We partner with Horizon Women’s Centre.” They have been increasingly working with area organizations such as LIPI (Low Income Peoples Involvement) in North Bay, the Sturgeon Falls Pentecostal Church, Filles d’Isabelle, and the Alliance Centre for medical appointments, psychiatry, addiction counseling, and True Self for assistance in outreach work. Rainville added, “We’ve partnered with the Complex; they allow our people to go in there for $2 and they can shower. So we supply them with shower kits, that includes toiletries and towels,” adding that such simple measures make a huge difference in the lives of those individuals.
NMTWN shared stories of particular individuals who were provided support and are now housed or have improved living conditions. Rainville also spoke to the local encampments cleared out this past Fall, noting that NMTWN was there when the residents were evicted. “We were on site with them for two days, giving them support, helping them save their belongings (…) and then we helped with cleaning up the encampment site (…) We do that with encampments throughout the community.” She told council the organization helps with crisis intervention 24/7, “When they’re in crisis, they call us. We get them connected (…) [to] any services.”
Coun. Anne Tessier wanted to know if having their own service hub made a difference, referring to the group’s rented location at 169 Front Street. The group’s request for $10,000 from the town, back in February, was to cover the lease on that space. Rainville responded, “It gives us a safe place to be able to make those phone calls to get them connected. They come in for support. We have other agencies that come in and meet with the clients and there’s a lot of the services out of town as well. (…) Last week we had some pretty heavy rain days, so they have no place to go, so they come in (…) We’re not using it as a drop-in centre, they come in, we assess what they need and they’re out (…) We give them dry clothes to change in, hot coffee to warm them up. They also feel very safe coming to us, trusting us. So, when they need a service that they’re not sure if they can handle it on their own, they come in and see one of us and tell us their story, their struggle and we help them to get to the service.”
Mayor Kathleen Thorne Rochon thanked the group for their report and acknowledged their growing development and organizational capabilities in working with area organizations. Coun. Kris Rivard added, “I like to have a better understanding of the group, it seems like you grew a little more over the past year and became a little more sophisticated as well, right? But I just like the stories that were shown, positive stories, and I think that’s something you can be very proud of. It’s honorable work.”
No discussion followed and no decision was made as to municipal funding for the group, though the matter is expected to be back on the agenda for the May 7 council meeting.
Pavilion to be erected at beach
Stephane Poulin, Director of Community Services, updated council on the work being done by Friends of the Beach in Sturgeon Falls, and how the municipality was supporting their volunteer efforts. “We’ve received word that a resident and business owner will be paying for and building the shelter at the Sturgeon Falls Beach. That citizen has been working with our staff for the design and we are expecting stamped drawings on Thursday this week (…) We will certainly work with the local contractor and ensuring that the construction happens this spring / early summer.”
As for other upgrades to the beach, “We will certainly look at temporary solutions for leveling (…) They had identified some yearly washouts, so we’ll look at trying to fix that to prevent any health and safety concerns. (…) Unfortunately that site is vandalized yearly, so we’ll look at and see if those 36-inch anchors to secure the benches are going to work at that site and we’ll do our best to secure the tables and benches that we install at that location. We’ll also take the opportunity to consult with our local volunteers to see where they would like the picnic tables specifically installed on site and we’ll look at improving signage for the parking area. (…) Our beautification lead is in discussion with them.”
Mayor Rochon commented on the hard work done by the volunteers so that “People in Sturgeon Falls can easily access the water”, and Coun. Rivard suggested sending the bylaw officer during school lunchtimes as a vandalism deterrent.
Flag Poles in River Valley
A request was put forward by the Fédération des femmes canadiennes-françaises (FFCF) to add two new flagpoles in River Valley, one for a Canadian flag and one for the Franco-Ontarian flag, at a cost of $600 each. The group initially suggested using two of the current Joie de Vivre poles, but council did not wish to diminish the Joie de Vivre marketing. It was pointed out that Canadian flag protocol stipulates that no other flag be flown on a pole upholding the Canadian flag. Council agreed the cost to put up two new flagpoles was warranted. However, Coun. Dan Gagné asked that a clear policy be established to address continual demands for flagpoles, so requests do not always have to come back to council. He noted that some flagpoles could be used to herald special events, changing the flag as needed.
Cache Bay Outdoor Rink
A tender was awarded to the lowest bidder, Deep Construction, to build either a single rink or double rink in Cache Bay, at $188,000 for a single rink and just under $202,000 for a double. Coun. Roch St-Louis requested the opportunity to consult with his constituents before a final decision was made. “Since both prices came underneath what we had approved (…), what I would like is to have a public meeting within the next week or two so that I can meet with the residents of Cache Bay” to see which plan they prefer. “I know that some are interested in the double rink, (…) some would prefer a regular sized rink.” Council agreed to the request, so the final determination will come forward at the next meeting of council.
Of interest was that all five bids were designated by letters ABCDE so that the bids were anonymous. Council was told this was done so that any preference for a particular contractor would be eliminated in the consideration process.
RV Dumping Station
Elizabeth Henning reported on the request to relocate the RV dumping and watering station from Coursol Road to behind the Comfort Inn hotel. “The idea is that it will be moved behind the Comfort Inn in front of the Public Works yard and will be set up as a pay per use station, so people will be able to dump.” RV’s would have to pay for the water. “That will cover some of our costs for treating that water.” The water distribution unit would cost approximately $50,000. “Public Works is going to be doing the actual work of expelling the dumping station and running the lines.” Henning noted that council might want to advance the project. Mayor Rochon suggested this matter become a priority, both to avoid illegal dumping of waste in the area and to recover costs. CAO Barbeau said he can update council in May as to availability of funds to get the project completed in a timely manner.
Parc La Visitation Park
Council authorized the naming of the Community Park on Caron Rd in Lavigne as Parc La Visitation Park, at the request of the Centre Communautaire de Lavigne.
Good Roads Conference
Council has two delegations at the Good Roads conference coming up, one with the Ministry of Transportation concerning the Champlain Bridge project and the other with the Ministry of Infrastructure for the Verner Drinking Water project.
