The region has pared down its consideration for a safe consumption site to one location.
According to a staff report released Friday, the region is now proposing just a single location for a safe consumption site, down from four proposed sites in Kitchener and Cambridge.
After a huge amount of opposition regarding a site in Cambridge’s downtown core, the region is now only considering a Kitchener site, with its sights set on 150 Duke Street West.
“Compared to the other sites, there were more benefits mentioned related to 150 Duke Street. The most common benefits shared in the surveys related to the site being close to other services and the overall accessibility of the site to clients,” the report reads in part.
It says that, of all of the sites, the public consultations for the Duke Street location were the most positive. According to a write-up of each site, that location scored a 19 out of 25 points, losing points for its proximity to St. Louis school and the police station as well as the residential footprint nearby.
In the report, the region indicates that staff will continue to look for an acceptable site in Cambridge in the meantime.
"There remains a significant and urgent need for a Consumption and Treatment Services site in South Cambridge as part of a comprehensive harm reduction strategy and as identified by the feasibility study and recent data," the report says.
In January, a Waterloo Region report indicated the site, should it become one at 150 Duke Street West, would be about 6,500 square feet. Capital costs of outfitting the location were estimated at about $438,000, with an annual operating cost of $802,000.
None of that will be federally funded.
While it’s not a done deal, it is expected to go to committee on Tuesday. Then it will need to go through both regional and Kitchener councils to be approved.
The result comes as the number of opioid-related fatalities grows—about 20 people have died from opioids so far this year, a number Public Health is calling a crisis.
