10-22-18 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING October 22, 2018 triggered by the County. I'm sure the City makes a call on that as well but we work with the County and the local continuum task force has worked with the County. This is something we are going to need every night from November to April. Councilmember Oliver Davis stated, Got you, I'm at peace. Thank you. Councilmember Sharon L. McBride stated, I think Councilmember Davis touched on it. I know, for instance, the Martin Luther King Jr. Center has warming stations so there are stations throughout the City that are declared warming stations. So aside from Center for the Homeless and Hope Ministries, there are warming stations throughout the City. I just wanted to make sure there was some clarification. Councilmember Jo M. Broden asked, So future leases could contemplate an exception for daytime staying in the event of emergency declaration, correct? Mr. Vanderveen clarified, Do you mean future meaning after April 15? Councilmember Jo M. Broden stated, Or Weather Amnesty in general. I guess I'm trying to find out if there is anything that would preclude us from including or looking at, whether it is you this year or some other individual organization partnering with the City, to trigger that as an option. Warming in place at an Amnesty location in the event of an emergency declaration would be something to look at in the future. Councilmember Jake Teshka stated, I guess I don't like any of this, right? I don't like the agreement that it is called an agreement to rezone. I don't like that sentence in section one (1). I don't like that this feels rushed. But I recognize that is because of, as Ms. Voll recognized, partly on us and our failure to act on permanent supportive housing. So I think whatever needs to be done should be done. I may not have all the information here but just in some brief conversation I've had,I don't think there is a homeless task force that includes elected officials.I think we are invited to come and be there and I want to do that. I will be reaching out to you all because we need to wrap our heads and hands around this issue. I think it is also a regional issue and I think we need regional partners in this as well. We already mentioned the nearest Weather Amnesty is in Goshen and that is ok if South Bend is where it is going to be but I think we need regional partners in this because it is a regional problem. This is a very rushed and an emergency stop-gap measure. This is so that we can protect the lives of folks who would otherwise be out on the streets in the nighttime in sub-zero (0) temperatures this winter. I don't want to be back here and I don't think anyone wants us to be back here this time next year doing this. Whatever it takes, I'm willing and wanting to be a part of it. Whatever it is, let's do it and let's get it done. Councilmember Tim Scott stated, As a representative, sometimes we meet outside our districts. Councilmember McBride and I met with business owners within the triangle between Sample and Michigan. I know Councilmember Williams-Preston could not be there but it was listening to the concerns of the citizens and business owners within that area. I just want to make a statement on their behalf. They are supportive but they have their concerns. They really didn't want to come and speak against or anything like that but they do have concerns of this going in. There are a lot of good things going on in that area. We have concerns about safety for people coming and going. Mossberg Printing is there.Ziker Cleaners,their building as an incubator and some creativity going on there, as well. I know the Sibley Building is getting repurposed. What I am going to say is also to the Department of Community Investment, we need to look at that area for long-term and pay attention to those businesses there. Honestly, it is not in my district. I had to look up Tutt Street on Google Maps to make sure I was going the right way. Driving around it and looking at the area and hearing the concerns, they are concerned. They are supportive of this being in place. Councilmember Teshka, I completely agree with what you're saying but I think there will always be outliers out there that need some type of winter amnesty evening if there is some permanent housing solution somewhere because not everyone can play by the rules but we still have to care for them as they are human beings. I'm supportive of this being temporary. I'm also supportive of this coming back before us and rezoning it back. But I'm also going to say that if we come to this again, we start looking at other places. If this is a shared responsibility to the City, we need to move it around to different parts of the City. They need to make sense for the people who are homeless,but this needs to be a shared experience. We all need to share this burden. I will support it tonight and will support it when we turn it right back. We are concerned about crime and we 10