The Town of Gibsons says it’s working with local agencies to help a group of homeless people who’ve been camping at the public works yard at 722 School Road.
The infrastructure department’s quarterly report describes the camp as “an ongoing concern” and says the Town has been receiving complaints from residents and businesses.
Chief administrative officer Emanuel Machado told council’s committee of the whole on July 24 that anywhere from three to 10 people have been camping in an area just outside the fence surrounding the works yard for the past couple of weeks.
“We felt a need to address some of the sanitation there and brought in a port-a-potty,” Machado told council. “The individuals there collect the garbage and we do regular inspections of the site as we go through.”
Machado said Town staff met July 20 with representatives from agencies that included RainCity Housing, Vancouver Coastal Health and the RCMP. “Everybody is doing their portion in providing support to these folks,” he said.
The Town has also been in touch with its lawyers to get a briefing on potential legal issues.
A homeless camp popped up in Inglis Park at the Five Corners in Gibsons Landing in January, and was one of the catalysts for setting up a cold weather shelter in the town.
Funding for the seasonal shelter, which was in a church basement at 599 Gower Point Road, ended March 31.
In a written report for the July 10 council meeting, Coun. Silas White said during two months of operation the shelter hosted between seven and 11 people nightly.
There’s no word yet on funding or a location for a cold weather shelter in Gibsons for the coming fall and winter. The shelters typically operate from Nov. 1 to March 31.
White’s July 10 report also said there has been “excellent progress” with the Town’s effort to work with BC Housing to convert the former RCMP building on School Road to a supportive housing project with up to 40 units on the property.
The preliminary results of an April homeless count on the Sunshine Coast found 57 people who identified as homeless in the Sechelt-Gibsons corridor, with 30 saying they had access to a shelter.
“It is important to recognize that this is the preliminary report, and the final report in the fall will include a narrative from the count coordinators that may be more telling than the numbers we have so far. It will hopefully also include a breakdown between Sechelt and Gibsons,” White, the council liaison to the Homelessness Advisory Committee, said. “It’s an incredibly positive development that BC Housing is on the scene and is supporting shelter for roughly half of the people captured in the count – which certainly wasn’t the case in the past.”
