‘A chance to feel normal’: Emergency weather shelter permit approved for Sidney church

Sidney council has approved a permit for an emergency weather shelter for the St. Andrew Anglican Church. The post ‘A chance to feel normal’: Emergency weather shelter permit approved for Sidney church appeared first on CHEK .

Sidney council has approved a permit for an emergency weather shelter for the St. Andrew Anglican Church. The emergency weather shelter permit is now in effect from Oct. 15 to April 15, and the shelter will only be operational in the event of severe weather events. Councillors estimated that it would activate for around 15 nights per year.

“This is a way to uplift people,” Coun. Scott Garnett said, speaking in favour of the motion. “This is a way to give them a chance to feel normal, if not for at least a few hours.

And we’re just talking about a few days a year. That’s all it is.” The permit for the extreme weather shelter was approved for a period of three years.

The Town of Sidney was previously seeking to establish an extreme weather shelter, but significant outcry from the community halted the plan last year . Instead, there was a warming centre in the Nell Horth room adjacent to the library. READ PREVIOUS:

Sidney seeking public feedback on permit for extreme weather shelter in church A warming centre is not permitted to provide sleeping facilities, and the library did not have a kitchen in order to provide a meal for attendees, which is why the town was seeking to set up an emergency weather shelter instead. The warming centre was activated for seven nights, and 15 people between the ages of 36 and 82 attended the centre. From those visits, there were no incidents.

“This warming center operated successfully adjacent to the library, where there are families, children, seniors,” Mayor Cliff McNeil-Smith said in the meeting. “We heard from a speaker this evening who lives across the street who couldn’t tell that there were people coming and going from the from the warming centre.” The motion to approve the temporary use permit passed 6-1 with only Coun.

Chad Rintoul opposed. The post ‘A chance to feel normal’: Emergency weather shelter permit approved for Sidney church appeared first on CHEK .