By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Northumberland County staff will look at extending warming-room hours to effect greater protection for unsheltered members of the community, with a report to be fast-tracked and put before a special meeting of county council as soon as possible.
The proposal made at February’s council meeting is to go to an around-the-clock opening of the facility – located in Committee Room A at the county building at 555 Courthouse Rd., Cobourg – on weekends, and to go to weekday hours that coincide with the beginning of business hours in the building. This would mean going to a 4:30 p.m.-to-8:30 a.m. opening of the room from the current 8 p.m.-to-8-a.m. hours.
The 24/7 opening has been done on three recent weekends, when weather forecasts were unusually frigid and access to such public facilities as Victoria Hall would have been limited, council heard from Acting Chief Administrative Officer Glenn Dees.
Dees spoke of correspondence the county has received in support of extended hours.
He also reminded council that the town’s Emergency Care Establishment bylaw only allows the warming room to be open until March 31. And though the location is not ideal, he added, the bylaw also limits the county to running such an operation on county property.
Associate Director of Housing and Homelessness Rebecca Snelgrove explained that Committee Room A in the county building at 555 Courthouse Rd. offers no confidential space where social-services staff can work with clients, no showers, no laundry facilities, not even much in the way of comfortable seating.
A handful of these individuals have been using the lobby of the building to shelter during business hours, and it does offer a chance for staff to meet with them in meaningful ways.
“We have seen people move from the warming room to permanent housing, transitional housing and emergency shelter beds. We have seen some great success from folks – people who have re-engaged in counselling programs and mental-health supports, and reconnecting with families. We see people taking care of one another and advocating for their needs,” she listed.
Still, she added, “the current space really is not conducive for us to do a true, meaningful program.”
Dees referred to a staff report requested at the January meeting that is yet to come back to council on longer-term options that include making use of the Golden Plough Lodge site, once its residents move to the newer, larger facility nearby, as well as possibly erecting a modular structure on the site, complete with costing analyses.
Meanwhile, Snelgrove noted that expanding hours at 555 Courthouse Rd. will involve costs – more snacks, more food-storage space, more cleaning and more security, for example (if their current contractor can even accommodate a request for more service).
In fact, should council at some point opt for a round-the-clock warming location, she considers the current location unsuitable.
Councillor Brian Ostrander said council has to tackle the problems of this winter, but also look ahead to the winter of 2026-2027 and beyond.
“Do we just have another temporary solution about winter or should we be proactive for the next term of council so they have something in front of them?” Ostrander urged.
“This is not going away,” Warden Bob Crate agreed, saying the county is somewhat limited in what it can do since it is only allowed to use county buildings.
Dees reminded county council of the report that is coming back on options for the long term, but suggested a course of action for the remainder of this winter can be tackled at a special county council meeting prior to March 31 – at which time the current warming hub must close under the terms of the license the Town of Cobourg issued under its Emergency Care Establishment bylaw.
