Mayor Dan Curtis says he has heard many concerns about the large crowds of people gathering at the homelessness shelter, the former Centre of Hope, on Alexander Street.

He addressed the worsening nuisance issues after Monday’s council meeting.

“It’s really challenging,” Curtis said. “We don’t really have the ability to address it individually as a council as far as resource and mandate.”

The city is encouraging Pauline Frost, the minister of Health and Social Services, to work with the RCMP and other organizations to help address residents’ concerns.

The city had a meeting with the Yukon government about this. Curtis said he did not walk away from it feeling a solution had been found.

He clarified that the territory is addressing the issue. He said resources, time and energy are going into it.

He added they’re looking for solutions but the shelter’s use has increased well beyond what was projected. He explained this makes it hard to find a way forward.

The city has some suggestions. “I don’t know how well they will be received,” Curtis said.

They include having more of a security presence, which should encourage people to better manage their offensive behaviour. He stressed this is not the city’s decision to make.

Curtis was at a Fourth Avenue glass business at 2 p.m. Monday, and counted 27 people outside of the shelter, two bottles of vodka and an ambulance. He said he made the count as he waited for his order.

“It’s a pretty regular sight,” he noted.

Curtis confirmed that the city has met with the RCMP, who are also frustrated with the situation. Both organizations are receiving complaints.

“Because we’re closer to the people, we hear it more than anyone,” Curtis said.

Two years ago, he said, he may have received one or two complaints a year. Now, it’s between one and three complaints a week.

The mayor explained that the issues surrounding the shelter are continuously evolving as more and more people use it.

He said he has seen the attitude of downtown business owners and staff change. People who started being empathic and generous with resources are now frustrated, exasperated and ready to give up.

This means, he explained, that the city will have to work hard with residents to improve the feeling of safety in the downtown core.

If the needy are pushed away, he pointed out, they will simply go somewhere else.

There are clear consequences to the shelter’s popularity, Curtis added.

The mayor, who once lived on Alexander Street, said it was a much different community then. It was warm, and everyone knew each other, he added.

“It’s not the same,” he observed.

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