HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 08/21/2001 - RESOLUTION 2001-96 PROVIDING DIRECTION TO THE CITY AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY ITEM NUMBER: 29
FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL DATE: August 21, 2001STAFF• John F. Fischbach
Heather Brooks
SUBJECT:
Resolution 2001-96 Providing Direction to the City Manager to Participate in the Creation of a
Day Facility for the Homeless.
i
RECOMMENDATION:
I
Staff recommends adoption of the Resolution.
J
6 FINANCIAL IMPACT:
This Resolution provides direction to the City Manager to pursue, together with the Fort Collins
Area United Way, the establishment of a new day shelter for the homeless. It does not commit
JI any City funds to the facility.
i
i
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
{ On Friday, March 30, 2001, New Bridges, a local day center for the homeless, ceased operations
1 and closed its doors. Since that time the Fort Collins Area United Way has brought together
service providers and community leaders to address the gap in services created by the closing of
New Bridges.
Property owned by the City at 450 North College, the site of the old Fort Collins Power Plant,
has been identified as a possible long-term location for a new day facility for the homeless. City
staff is currently looking into the details of the land in order to determine if the site is feasible. If
a facility can be located on the site, the City of Fort Collins could provide the land at a lease rate
similar to previous lease rates provided to non-profit organizations. This provision of land
would be the only involvement that the City of Fort Collins would have in the construction and
operation of the facility.
1
a
RESOLUTION 2001-96
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
PROVIDING DIRECTION TO THE CITY MANGER TO PARTICIPATE IN
THE CREATION OF A DAY FACILITY FOR THE HOMELESS
WHEREAS, the closure of New Bridges, a homeless day shelter, left many homeless
persons in Fort Collins without adequate service provision; and
WHEREAS, there is not a facility located in Fort Collins that offers a comprehensive
approach for helping this population escape homelessness; and
WHEREAS, the lack of a comprehensive approach impacts the entire Fort Collins
community because it perpetrates the cycle of homelessness and the dependency on social
services and, more specifically, ignores the documented needs of an underprivileged group of
residents; and
WHEREAS, the Fort Collins Area United Way has taken a leadership role in bringing
service providers and community leaders together in order to address the deficiency of
comprehensive service provision; and
WHEREAS, the City of Fort Collins has been asked to participate in this partnership by
providing City-owned land at a lease rate similar to other lease rates provided to nonprofit
organizations; and
WHEREAS, the involvement of the City of Fort Collins would be limited to the
provision of City-owned land as specified above without the possibility of additional funding;
and
WHEREAS, the facility would serve an important public purpose by offering a
comprehensive service approach to the problem of homelessness in the City.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS that the City Council hereby directs the City Manager to explore a possible
partnership, as described above, with the Fort Collins Area United Way to develop a
comprehensive day facility for the homeless on City-owned land at 450 North College adjacent
to the Old Fort Collins Power Plant, and to report back to the City Council no later than
November 20, 2001, with regard to the feasibility of, and mechanisms for, creating such a
partnership.
Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins held
this 21st day of August,A.D. 2001.
Mayor
ATTEST:
City Clerk