Lambton County Council has reaffirmed its donation to Indwell, for a supportive and affordable housing project planned in Sarnia, after being asked to reconsider it.
The charity is planning to build 51 housing units on a vacant site at 333 George St., and was gifted land for the project at the June 4 council meeting.
Warden Kevin Marriott read the rules of procedure for reconsideration at the July 2 council meeting, which state that only a member who voted on the prevailing side of an issue is allowed to bring forward a motion to reconsider.
He asked City/County Councillor Bill Dennis, who asked for the reconsideration, to confirm that he voted in favour of the land donation during a closed meeting on May 7.
"Yes. I was given the impression though that the neighbours were going to have a say in the matter," Dennis said. "But, yes I did. I was misled."
"The fact of the matter is, in Sarnia, we always, always ask for feedback from neighbours when we do things. We've always asked for input, before we make big decisions and this just isn't right that we didn't consult neighbours with such a serious, serious matter," he added.
Dennis was the only member to support his call for a reconsideration.
Indwell held a drop-in open house in June where community members were able to ask questions and voice their concerns.
Council also defeated a motion from Sarnia City/County Councillor Chrissy McRoberts asking staff to consult neighbourhoods on supportive housing builds undertaken by the county, or a third party which the county has donated lands or funds to support the project.
Township of Warwick Mayor Todd Case warned against changing county processes.
"That means anything and everything that comes to this body of council will have to go out for consultation to the public," said Case. "Am I reading that right? Because once you set this precedent, it's going to be everything that we're going to be looking at."
Case said he's reached the point where he wants the City of Sarnia to decide where they'd like the county to build these housing units.
"Because to be honest with you, we've looked at different areas, different models, and it seems to be there's a problem with every one," Case said. "And with all due respect to the people that live there -- I think it's good that they have their say too -- don't get me wrong, but I've sat here for over 20 years and I've never seen county council so dysfunctional in so many ways when it comes to trying to find places to build these particular homes."
Case repeatedly encouraged city representatives to bring suggestions back to county council.
"I for one will do my best to honour that, but to keep playing this game where we keep going around, and around, it's not healthy for anybody. It's not healthy for the residents, it's not healthy for the folks that actually need the assistance. This whole thing has to stop and we have to start being proactive in finding places to be able to put these people and allow them to continue with their lives," Case said.
City/County Councillor Brian White reminded his colleagues of their individual responsibilities as elected officials to research, understand information and tour similar facilities to find solutions based on evidence.
"We're facing a crisis right now at a national level [and] at an international level," said White. "It's not just Canada. It's not just North America. We've got a very serious issue with housing affordability, with lack of supports, [and] the trajectory does not look good unless we actively search for solutions. Allowing things to exacerbate is only going to make things worse for everybody."
Earlier in the meeting, Homelessness Prevention and Social Planning Manager Ian Hanney told the group over 1,000 people are waiting for community / subsidized housing in Lambton County.
He said the by-name list -- which is a real-time, person specific list of individuals experiencing homelessness -- fluctuates daily, but is generally over 300 in Lambton County right now.
"Supportive housing is necessary to address our local housing and homelessness needs. To alleviate the overwhelming pressures that necessitate emergency responses like shelter, and accordingly unburden our municipal budgets," said Hanney.
He provided the information after presenting a 2024 housing and homelessness progress report.
Hanney said local agencies helped reduce youth homelessness by more than 50 per cent last year, more than 30 families were progressed into permanent housing and over 200 individuals were progressed from homelessness into permanent housing.