Mustard Seed CEO James Gardiner, left, talks with Flats resident Bob Palmer after Wednesday's municipal planning commission meeting where a permit to operate an off-site kitchen at the group's Allowance Avenue location was extended.--News Photo Collin Gallant
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A kitchen operating out of a now-closed community outreach centre in Medicine Hat will be allowed to continue preparing meals for delivery to vulnerable populations while the Mustard Seed continues to seek out an alternate site to combine its services.
The city’s municipal planning commission voted Wednesday to extend a permit to operate a “ghost kitchen” for an additional 120 days at its Allowance Avenue location that is now closed to the public.
Controversy swirled over the winter when the Mustard Seed applied to add overflow shelter space at the former church.
Nearby residents objected, saying clients at the day centre were disruptive, and its operating permit was found out of order as well.
This week, Mustard Seed CEO James Gardiner told the commission that activity at the site has dropped, but it needs to keep providing more than 20 meals at a time to its overnight shelter and several third parties for distribution.
“We are committed to finding an appropriate location, but in the meantime, we’ve got to feed people,” said Gardner. “The (issue) with the shelter (application) was the impact to the community. From my conversations with chief (of police) Al Murphy, that’s dropped off.”
Several speakers in the public hearing portion of the meeting raised questions about the group’s overnight shelter, located on Ninth Street, near Kingsway Avenue in the South Flats, but noted that staff patrols during the day are welcome and seem to keep operations orderly.
Another opponent of the expansion of the overnight shelter appeared on Wednesday to note the change since the day centre closed.
“It’s been the quietest it’s been in four years,” said Flats resident Bob Palmer, who lives across from the facility Allowance Avenue.
“I live kitty-corner and I think that most people in the neighbourhood would agree it should stay that way.”
Palmer has argued a more secluded 24-hour shelter is needed.
The controversy over shelter operations led the provincial government to step in with heavy criticism of the city’s handling of the issue.
Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Justin Wright said the plan to expand beds to Allowance Avenue was to be a temporary fix as locations with greater separation from residences was sought for a provincial plan to amalgamate services.
Gardiner said Wednesday that his organization has shortlisted two sites after discussions of available public and private property with the city’s land and real estate office.
“(A 120-day permit) gives us some security of operations,” he said. “I can’t speak to a timeframe of when (alternate) property might be available, but it is a priority for us.
“We do want to get a more appropriate site, both for the community but also for the people that we serve, all in one location that’s more suitable for the services that we provide.”
