A compromise has been struck regarding the proposed Consumption and Treatment Services site location.
A special meeting of the Windsor Essex County Health Unit Board was convened on Friday morning to discuss the location of SafePoint Consumption Services, after discussions earlier this week at Windsor City Council.
The board has voted unanimously to create a new committee, which will be chaired by Ward 3 councillor Renaldo Agostino, that will be tasked with finding a new site for the CTS.
In the interim, the City of Windsor will not rescind their support for the site at 101 Wyandotte Street so the process will continue to move forward.
The proposed site for a consumption and treatment site, called “SafePoint” at 101 Wyandotte St. E., on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. (Rich Garton/CTV News Windsor)
As part of the meeting on Friday, an update on the space was provided showing the work currently being done, as well the fact that federal application partners will soon visit Windsor for a site evaluation as part of the approval process.
So far, $775,000 has been spent on site for building occupancy and renovations, which has been covered by WECHU gap funding or its budget surplus. The health unit's lease at the Wyandotte location lasts until April of 2025.
Board chair and Ward 2 councillor Fabio Costante says discussions took place all week to get to this compromise, which was important to make sure the opening of the service was not delayed.
"If we would've simply adopted the motion that was presented by Councillor Agostino it had the potential to delay the opening of this critical service in our community for an indefinite period of time that we don't know at this point. In an effort to get this off the ground as soon as possible, while still allowing the councillor to lead the process to look for a new site, that was how we came to this agreement," he said.
WECHU CEO Dr. Ken Blanchette says he doesn't anticipate this decision having any impact on the current preparations at the site on Wyandotte Street, nor on federal or provincial approval.
The initial council vote on support for the site on Wyandotte by the previous term of council was 6-5.
Dr. Blanchette says the provincial approval process is dependent on the host municipality having full support, so if their primary partner has concerns it was important for the health unit to sit down and have discussions.
"Our municipal partners and ourselves, the common goal and the common piece in this was saving lives," he continued. "And I believe we are all very comfortable in the solution that we've come to that we can start saving lives and we can find something that's going to make everybody, all our partners, very happy with the new location."
The health unit is expecting provincial approval to be finalized by July, but the doors will open on the temporary CTS site once federal approval is secured.
Dr. Blanchette says the goal for the new location once selected is to make sure the costs related are not a burden on tax payers.
He says they've already had some ongoing discussions with the provincial Ministry of Health.
"We've been able to get some high priority community funding from them from now until March, there's a potential for next year as well. Already been having some conversations from some philanthropic donations as well, from foundations and individuals that want to see the site operational. It's a very big endeavour of mine to ensure we minimize any impact on the tax payer," Dr. Blanchette stated.
The WECHU will close the SafePoint location and transfer services to the new site once it has been selected, construction has been completed, and both federal and provincial approval has been obtained.
Dr. Blanchette says once a new site has been selected, the approval process will have to start over again from scratch.