Hamilton’s city council is set to discuss a new shelter plan on Wednesday as it looks to find immediate solutions for the estimated 300 people who are currently living in encampments.
One proposal involves temporary small cabin units set up in a lot near Barton Street and Tiffany Street.
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“The main advantage of these cabin villages is two fold,” Dan Postma, the president of Future Shelters said. They’re portable and they’re fast”.
Postma’s company is one that’s in the running to provide temporary shelter units to the city of Hamilton.
“They will have a bunch of cabins put up, congregated around a communal building,” he added, saying that the cabins are not long term, affordable housing but rather a step up from living in tents.
Postma says his company’s temporary housing units are shipped from Charlotte North Carolina, where similar units have been used in areas hit by hurricanes.
They come in a variety of sizes, but an 80 square-foot unit costs roughly $18,000.
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Another point on the agenda for Wednesday’s city council meeting is how to manage the site, as well as the design of the units.
City staff believe the site could take up to 80 people.
READ MORE: Hamilton mayor directs staff to develop plan for sanctioned temporary sites amid homelessness crisis