The Town of Creston has said no to a permanent homeless shelter on Canyon Street.
During a town council meeting, it was decided not to go ahead with the homeless shelter at 1130 Canyon Street.
Mayor Arnold DeBoon says it was not the best spot for the shelter.
“Well, we made it clear that we had realized and decided that the building was not the best spot for a potential homeless shelter. So we discussed that at the meeting and let people know that.” said Mayor DeBoon.
He says there were several factors in their decision, including the location, the impact on the town, difficulty in keeping the public bathrooms in that area open, and more.
Mayor DeBoon adds the cost of renovating the building would probably have been prohibitively high.
“We weren’t that thrilled with the location. The reason that was even up for decision was that, if we proceed with a homeless shelter and they wanted a contribution from the town, a potential contribution would have been a building.”
Despite no decisions coming to light prior to the meeting, significant backlash on social media circled throughout the community.
“Facebook is a place where people are welcome to express their opinion and I understand that that’s important,” said DeBoon.
“But a lot of it is based on conjecture. Without having that information, when people post their opinions, other people see that as either fact or high potential being true. And not all of it is.”
He adds the best way to get the proper information is to attend meetings.
“The best place to get information is by attending meetings and we allow the public to ask questions and we do our best to answer them.”
Mayor DeBoon says, despite rejecting this potential site, the town is still working on getting a permanent shelter.
“I think our community has generally agreed with is that there is a need for either a shelter or services for the homeless that they currently don’t have. And so that keeps the conversation going and over time there will be decisions made.”
Luckily, he says the lack of any fatally cold weather gives the town the time to make the best decision for the community.
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