By Cecilia Nasmith
When Northumberland County opens its shelter at 310 Division Street in Cobourg, it will be without a formal agreement with the town on its management.
In a special meeting of council Wednesday, they voted that the Emergency Care Establishments bylaw they passed this spring is sufficient to ensure the town's wish to safeguard the interests of its residents.
In terms of how this will affect any timetable the county has to open the facility or its plans to operate it, Chief Administrative Officer Tracey Vaughan said it will not delay or interfere with either.
“The town is not looking to delay or prevent the opening of 310 Division,” Vaughan said.
Councillor Brian Darling put the motion on the floor, pointing out that the county is the service manager, not the town.
“In the best interests of the citizens of Cobourg, it is best we just provide the application process for Northumberland County and Transition House to work as partners in the operation of the premises,” Darling said.
Mayor Lucas Cleveland declared himself in agreeance with Darling's reasoning, recalling the “incredibly robust” engagement process the county had gone through after purchasing the property (which formerly served as the Cobourg Retirement Residence), with unprecedented opportunity for members of the community to offer input.
In the meantime, the Town of Cobourg has shared with the county all input it has received from residents - “the correspondence, the meetings, the phone calls. Both the town and the county have done a good job,” Cleveland stated.
The report to council by Town Clerk Brent Larmer gave a history of this issue, starting with council's Jan. 31 motion that included a request for a meeting with Transition House and the County of Northumberland “to establish an agreement with the municipality to address the management of 310 Division Street.”
A Feb. 28 resolution endorsed “the ongoing discussions with the County of Northumberland on the terms of an agreement.”
On March 28, council passed its Emergency Shelter License Bylaw, one day after receiving correspondence from the county “outlining terms as a starting point of an agreement.”
On June 24, the town received correspondence from the county regarding a revised agreement in principle, “removing the requirement for the Town to agree to the repeal of the Emergency Sheltering By-law before the agreement is in effect and all other recommended agreement terms outlined in the agreement in principle will remain the same.”
Mayor Cleveland said he now sees no need for an agreement at all.
“The town is no on way, shape or form responsible for housing or social services. That is the county's mandate,” he stated.
“We need to trust the county will honour the feedback of the citizens of Cobourg. The reality is, an agreement should not be necessary to force the county to do these things.”
Recalling the discussions aimed at forging a three-way partnership to govern operations, Cleveland stated that partnerships are really about trust.
“We need to rebuild that trust. I am going to ask this council to trust the county, and trust Transition House and its new executive director, to do what they say they are going to do,” the mayor said.
“Perhaps an agreement at this time is not necessary.”
Recalling his part in a delegation made to county council on this matter, Councillor Randy Barber said, “I think it's important to also note we have shared with them the experience of our police and our fire chief and fire department, and the experiences they have had and will continue to have with this organization.”
Cleveland dropped the debate with a compliment for Transition House – the organization that will do the front-line work at 310 Division St. but, for now, provides services in a house around the corner from that location on its operations.
“The current Transition House has been and approved and is a licensed ECE establishment,” he noted.
“The process works, the system works, and we are seeing a wonderful service coming out of Transition House at this moment.”
Larmer's report referenced the ECE license issued to Transition House at 10 Chapel St.
“The relocation license should be a more streamlined process, now there is a current license in place through the licensing bylaw,” it said.
