During last night’s Williams Lake Council meeting, discussions sparked on where to place the homeless.
The short term solution proposed was to have an option of staying at Boitanio Park when an individuals encampment is needed to be moved.
“Where that area was determined was at the area closest to Boitanio Mall, where it’s closest to the Y intersection, so there’s a small area.” says Gary Muraca, Chief Administrative Officer.
“So what that means is when we have to go and decamp, when they say where can we go, we can say you can go here, but when you go here the requirement will be that you be taken down during the day, during certain periods and you can have it up at night.”
Muraca added that this isn’t something where they move every homeless person to, but rather a temporary option for those individuals.
“The ultimate goal is to get them more support, it’s not to create an option for tents, no council member’s suggesting that tents are an option or a long term solution,”
“but we need something short term, while we advocate to the higher levels of government.”
City Staff, along with RCMP and social agencies determined that this location would also be best for if emergency services are needed in the area.