With winter finally coming to an end this month, one Lambton County councillor is looking ahead to closing the overflow shelter on Exmouth Street in Sarnia.
Councillor Bill Dennis asked county staff during Wednesday's regular meeting if the facility would be closing in May, as he said was promised.
When told a report was coming to council in April, he argued that meant no.
"A full report, that tells me that you're not going to make the May deadline that you promised," said Dennis. "We'll wait until your report in April but that's setting the table for bad news. I was born at night but not last night."
The conversation got a little heated when Warwick Township Mayor Todd Case corrected Dennis and said a date was never set. Dennis interrupted Case insisting there was.
"There was no promised date," said Case.
"Yes there was, yes there was, yes there was," said Dennis.
"Excuse me, I have the floor councillor Dennis not you, you said your piece," said Case. "There was never a promise of a date, there was a target and that was made very clear to everybody. I just want to make sure we understand, there was no promise of a date so don't make a statement that's not true."
In November, council was told operations would begin to wind down in the spring.
During budget talks last month General Manager of Social Services Melissa Fitzpatrick said they couldn't provide an exact closure date for the overflow shelter as demand was still high due to the freezing cold temperatures.
According to its website, there are over 320 people experiencing homelessness in Lambton County.
You can watch the full discussion during Lambton County Council's meeting beginning at the 1:12 mark.
