Report: temporary injection site in Sudbury will cost $1.1M a year to operate

Sudbury -

A report headed to tonight's city council meeting offers a detailed cost breakdown of a temporary safe injection site Greater Sudbury city council is planning to open downtown.

The Energy Court site – city owned land near Lorne Street – will cost $1.1 million a year to operate. The temporary facility aims to fill the gap as members of the Community Drug Strategy (CDS) continue searching for a permanent downtown location.

The group – which includes officials from the health unit, city and police – haven't been able to find a permanent location because of the complexities involved, and the fact landowners are reluctant to rent their property for the site.

The cost of the Energy Court site for the remainder of 2021 will be $274,000, a staff report said, and will be treated as an unbudgeted expense that will be added to the city's year-end bottom line.

The city has to pay for the facility because there is no funding available from other government sources.

"The CDS is pursuing an application for an urgent public health needs site as an interim solution while the permanent application continues," the staff report said. "Federal and provincial funding is not available for a temporary supervised consumption site and therefore Réseau ACCESS Network was asked to submit a draft budget based on working knowledge of other sites in Ontario."

The $1.1 million will fund a full year of operations, with the temporary injection site operating 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., every day, opening to the public daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Read the full report here. City council meets tonight beginning at 6 p.m.