Sarnia council took action to implement temporary measures in Rainbow Park Friday morning.
During a special meeting, held virtually, council voted 5 - 3 in favour of authorizing the city's chief administrative officer (CAO) to allow fencing, sanitation, lighting and security measures until further legal options become available.
Mayor Mike Bradley supported the motion, reluctantly, saying the county has left the city to address issues at the homeless encampment after refusing to provide its opinion on the situation last week.
"One of the reasons we joined the county, and I believe councillor Burrell you were on it back then, is that we were a 'confederation.' How many times did we hear that, over and over again, 'we are a confederation and we take care of each other'. Some gain, some don't, and this has been a real body blow to that relationship," said Bradley.
City/County Councillor Brian White agreed that the city couldn't delay acting on the issue further.
"There has to be something done," White said. "We're on the cusp of a human health crisis and my understanding is that the CAO and police are working together right now, despite the direction of the county, to try and ensure that there is a path forward."
Councillors Bill Dennis, George Vandenberg, and Terry Burrell voted against the action.
"I will not be supporting this," Burrell said. "I think it's totally unfair to dump this on our staff. Our staff are not equipped to handle this situation."
He believed the steps would draw more people into the park.
"I think we are deluding ourselves to think that we can handle this this way," Burrell added. "If we do this, we are in effect encouraging and enabling this type of behavior to continue."
Councillor Chrissy McRoberts disagreed. She said evicting encampment residents would exacerbate the issue, making it harder for police and social services staff to check-in with the individuals.
"If we can contain it until we can come up with a plan that no one else has thought about, and we work together towards that.... just sweeping them is not a one-and-done," McRoberts said. "We'd stir the nest. It would continue on... except we wouldn't know where everybody is."
Staff have also been directed to explore any available opportunities for financial support for the temporary measures from senior levels of government and the County of Lambton.
Council will review the directive on a 30 day basis.
City/County Councillor Dave Boushy was absent.
The full meeting, which can be viewed here, lasted about an hour and was called by five members of council -- not by the mayor who chairs meetings.
The city's provincially mandated community safety and well-being leadership group was tasked with drafting an encampment protocol in May.
Council has yet to be presented with the plan.