Inspection by Town staff at 821 Battell Court started September 25 and “uncovered numerous Property Standards and health and safety concerns”. Then on September 27 a second multi-agency inspection was completed with the result that a Property Standards Order was issued to address immediate deficiencies related to the Town’s prescribed property standards for occupancy. In addition to inadequate conditions involving ventilation, lighting, plumbing, heating, and electrical services it was determined due to safety reasons, that the building be secured to prevent occupancy until the deficiencies are corrected. These inspections were a follow-up to “a multi-agency inspection of the property (that) had previously taken place in August to evaluate fire and municipal by-law concerns.” “As a result of this inspection, the Cobourg Fire Department issued an Electrical Inspection Order and Immediate Threat to Life notice … and assisted the property owner to remedy the Immediate Threat to Life notice by installing fire alarms within the building.”
The Town’s Press Release further said that:
The Town has been providing further recommendation to the property owner to bring the building into compliance, however, the property owner has been non-responsive. To date, no remediation efforts have been made to this property and an increase of violations to property standards and health and safety have been witnessed.
“The Town Council supports and cares for the safety and well-being of all its residents. Safety concerns are taken seriously and approached collaboratively with local emergency services and partner agencies to provide the best outcome for those impacted. Staff have been working with the owner to remedy the condition of this property. Unfortunately, we have witnessed increased violations regarding property standards so the Town must step in to protect the health and safety of the tenants.” – Lucas Cleveland, Mayor of the Town of Cobourg.
The Town of Cobourg, in partnership with Northumberland County Social Services, Cobourg Fire Department, Cobourg Police Service and the Cobourg Police Service HARP team, worked collaboratively with the property owner and occupants to ensure the understanding and compliance with the terms and conditions of the Order. Through coordination with the property owner, tenants have been removed from the property for their own health and safety. All agencies continue to work with the owner to bring the building into compliance, to make it safe for residents to re-occupy. The dwelling will remain vacated until deemed safe by the Town of Cobourg.
There is no word on how much rent the tenants were paying nor any word on where those evicted would go – nor was there an indication on how many tenants there were. A report by Pete Fisher’s Today’s Northumberland included a video showing an evicted young man walking off towing suitcases.
Resources
- Today’s Northumberland report
- Letter to the Editor at Todays Northumberland – more detail on 821 Battell
- Full Press Release by Town (above Report quotes extensively from this)
- Town Acts to Close Unsafe Residence – 28 July 2023
Print Article:
If anyone doesn’t understand what it is that Missy McLean and Greenwood Coalition want and why there is a tent community at Brookside? Then I suggest that you read this article.
https://canada.constructconnect.com/dcn/news/infrastructure/2023/06/kitcheners-a-better-tent-city-provides-tiny-homes-with-a-big-purpose
They will not stop their protest until they are granted permission to establish a similar cabin community in Cobourg. If pne is to accept what Pete Fisher wrote in an editorial today, a Cobourg Council member’ s daughter takes up residence
when home on weekends from school
This is a battle of wills between a “community” group and a duly democratically elected council, representing all citizens of Cobourg.
Can there be a compromise? And if so what?
So I guess the Rehab that moved into the Woodlawn
is just for those that Pay or is it even a ReHab ?
You never see any updates on this
It is a Rehab and has been up and running for some time. Yes it is for those that pay. Is there anything that is really ‘free’? I have heard the town, or maybe it is the county, pays for one space a month for local people in need. There is even a website
About Us | Canadian Centre for Addictions
Another “feature” will soon be declared unsafe. 🫨
The Portable Toilets by the now defunct terminal on Albert Street.
Last week, the door of one was open and there were three men standing in it and injecting drugs.
I saw the For Sale sign has disappeared from the former drug house on Division Street. It was not replaced by a Sold sign which is typical when a property sells. Wonder what the plan is now that it apparently is no longer for sale? Anyone know?
Like many other bloggers, I feel that keeping Transition House and the availability of campsite locations in Cobourg will continue to destroy the town. Perhaps a new Transition House should be built beside Warkworth Correctional Institution. So there can be a back and forth flow. If you do not want detoxification go into Warkworth. Drug availability abounds there. And a Warkworth Transition House location would not be a desirable location for campers who would be shuttled off there. Come on Cobourg, Northumberland and Ontario leaders. Put together a plan for our County.
As these unsafe residents close, the tent city at Brookside grows. Lawless behaviour increases everywhere fights, fires, theft, open drug use, assaults etc. The enablers and advocacy groups who are all for normalizing illegal drug use and the taxpayer providing houses with no conditions and providing illegal drugs are having a meeting October 10 at CCI ( the high school) from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Some of the hosts are Greenwood Coalition, Transition House, Northumberland Sleeping Cabin Collective, Moms Stop the Harm, etc. Many know some of those who sit on the various boards of these groups and know their agendas which I believe are not what the taxpayers of Cobourg want in their feel good town anymore.
Well CT, here is the challenge. What is being presented on Oct 10 is an information session. By all means attend it with skepticism, but keep an open mind. I know that there are open minds that need to be closed down for repairs, however, arguments will be presented to explain their case. The important thing is to expose oneself to opposing ideas, and judge each point on its merit after giving them a good hearing. It is a meeting of an assortment of community activists behaving in the most democratic way. They are being accountable to the community at large by exposing their arguments to the invited public. I hope to attend and I will be doing so with some skepticism about this or that detail, and if they don’t address those details in their opening remarks, then I trust I am free to ask a question about my concerns. The answer I get may be unsatisfactory, or incorrect, or on the mark, but that is my call to make after exposing myself to their argument.
I wrote a poem a long time ago:
You all want to touch;
I think your hands are cold,
but they are not.
Which is important?
What I think?
or your warm arguments?
I agree Wally with keeping an open mind to what will be presented by these groups, but unfortunately this community has been subjected to months of their actions, so it is hard not to be biased.
So now they want to have a community discussion to plead their case, ask for money, or to let the community know that winter is approaching and these ” campers” need better winter accommodations?
Or is them circling back to the small cabin issue that was rejected by council, hoping that the community after being subjected to a summer of homeless encampments will be more open to accepting small cabins
Well I guess you’ll never know if your presumptions are correct or validated. You’ll never get an answer to your valid question if you don’t ask them. I have a question that I deem challenging and I intend to ask it of them. And I have enough spine to ask it face to face. By all means attend wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with NO! Your message is loud and clear. Go and get the evidence from them directly, and use that information in your argument6s against them. This is about FREE SPEECH: respect it. Your free speech and my free speech and their free speech.
Last I looked, I thought I was free to express my skepticism of these groups and their agenda and question their motives? Which I believe are one of using the homeless and drug addicted as a means to maintain their organizations and keep them necessary.
And I never asserted that you weren’t free to express your skepticism. If you have any reading comprehension skills whatsoever, you would have seen that I intend to question them with my own skepticism in mind, so don’t dump your stupid red herring argument on me. I recommended that you go express yourself, and accuse them of using addicts and homeless for their own purpose. You got the spine to comment here, so take that spine and go accuse them to their faces. I have the spine to go face to face with challenging questions.
Wally feel free to question them all you want, until your blue in the face. But what we need is action. The County has reached out to these “campers” to try to help and find these people accomodation. And by their own account offers have been declined. The County is making progress in buying buildings and units throughout the County to accomodate needs for shelter.
But these groups in my opinion encourage these people to stay and hold the line, until these organizations get what they want. This has been a concerted effort all summer to get the Town and County to give what they want on their terms.
But please feel free to question?
I can also bring up that our MP, Philip Lawrence who will be holding a roundtable at the Columbus Community Centre in Cobourg on Friday Oct 13, 10:30am-12:30pm. I recommend that you take your spine and go exercise your free speech there about the federal inadequacies on this problem. Is that clear enough for you to comprehend? I intend to take my spine and ask some challenging questions of my MP. I’m not shirking my civic responsibilities to go listen and challenge. That’s what I recommend concerning the Oct 10 meeting that you roundly scolded me about.
Thank you Wally for the invitation, but last I looked the purse strings are controlled by the Liberals with the support of the NDP. The fiscal policies and overspending by
this Government, compounded by the earlier cheap money and large immigration numbers have put us in this housing shortage.
Now The Fed Government tightening spending and cutting programs, because they have no money. They’ re to point of checking the couches in Parliament for loose change.
Mr Lawrence can propose great ideas , but until his party is in power with a majority these are just great ideas waiting to be implemented.
Part of the problem with our society is because citizens don’t have the spine to take action to hold all our politicians accountable for their actions or non-actions. Downtowner’s persistent pursuit of assorted politicians is the right way to go. Downtowner has not yet received any satisfactory answer or action from any of them. Of course Downtowner is one voice. It will take a lot more voices before any action will be taken. You can shirk your civic responsibilities, and howl all you want on Draper’s blog — it will not affect anything. That you have thrown up your hands in cynical surrender is part of our social malaise. It is not enough to sit on one’s butt in front of a keyboard and whine daily. If you want action, then take action.
Wally, the meeting is clearly stated as issues relating to seniors with Philip Lawrence so please leave the seniors time to ask their pertinent questions. Philip Lawrence was apparently not invited – answer to e-mail directed to his office – by the Town of Cobourg when a meeting was scheduled to discuss the problems with regards to the problems the drug addicts and advocates were creating here in town. His office did attend a meeting organized by Piccini with regard to these issues on invitation.
I know very well that the issues relate to seniors. Do you have such little imagination to think that I would not ask my challenging questions about senior issues? I am a senior and I have a pertinent question for him. Up front I will tell you that the questions I want to ask Lawrence do not pertain to drug addicts, etc. Got it? I’ll let the other seniors ask their pertinent questions first, ok, then I’ll ask my pertinent questions relating to seniors if that is ok with you. “…so please leave the seniors time to ask their questions…” I resent this stupid presumption of yours.
I resent the ignorant tone of your replies to me Wally. This is not the first time you have replied in this fashion to me and you have replied in such a tone to others. Your put the time of the meeting and stated you planned to address issues pertaining to matters the meeting has not been called for. I have no idea why you think you should come on here and call people stupid and be allowed to do so.
Hickory dickory dock,
I think this session will be a crock,
I don’t believe they have a case,
attending will be a waste,
I just want our Town back,
Had enough of seeing crack!
The mediocrity meter was applied to your text and it seems that you were composing without a Poetic Licence because the mediocrity reading was in textcess of 0.08. Composing without a licence. PRZT!
I notice that the thumbs down come from the mediocre — there so many!
Maybe… but it rhymed 😀
It did rhyme just like a poorly composed commercial jingle, but even on that scale, it remains mediocre, including your witless remark. Like I said, there is a lot of mediocrity going around, and you just proved yourself to be another spreader of mediocrity. Am I being condescending? I sure am.
I knew you would like it😀
Where do I look to see the agenda for the Oct 20 meeting at CCI?
correction Oct 10th
You can see details of the meeting at the Cobourg Internet Featured events page. This is the specific page: https://cobourginternet.com/about-cobourg/featured-events/world-homeless-day-10-october
Oh, no! Not another round in a larger setting. Please take the show to other Towns and Cities from where the recruits are delivered to Cobourg. Cobourg has had sufficient rhetoric and the resultant actions have played out daily before our eyes in the last eleven months.
“so the Town must step in to protect the health and safety of the tenants”, so said the Mayor.
But how are the tenants being protected?
I still stand by my position that a protection plan must have a relocation plan for the complete exercise to be responsible.
It is not enough to say that Cobourg is protecting property and persons from danger and then let the County pick up the pieces of the tenants.
Quite interesting Ben that you earned so many thumbs down for only pointing out a missing link.
It is so much easier to shoot the messenger than deal with reality Wally!
It’s high time we start dealing with the reality of the situation Ben.
These “tenants” wreaked havoc on a neighbourhood. They had a responsibility to act and behave civilly to their neighbours and each other.
They chose not to. So the Town undertook to protect one group- residents trying to live peacefully and responsibly vs the other living an aggressive, irresponsible, carefree, drug life.
These “tenants” made decisions and life style choices that cost them shelter. That is on them.
To move this group to another part of the Town will only devastate another neighbourhood.
In many Cases today certain situations appear to be Hopeless for Landlords
I know I have been one for many years .
However since there is no way of getting
a hearing at the Landlord and Tenant Board Ont Rent Tribunal in less than 6 m to 18 months ++
Good respectfully Tenants can not get a hearing or bring a claim before the Tribunal against the Landlord
This also holds True from the Landlords perspective trying to collect rents , or trying to keep their investment safe and in good condition, paying taxes ,insurance probably utilities if the Tenants quit or are simply not– as we Landlords have to keep the heat & water On
I am sure ByLaw would be all over the Owners as well for uncut grass and landscape etc etc
So I have to Blame the County and the Province for these situations No one should have to live like this for this long and No Landlord should Not be able afford or upkeep or gain access to their own property for repairs and income
Sandpiper, I understand your point. I have been a tenant and represented landlords. In the vast majority of cases issues are resolved because the people involved are reasonable. When they cannot resolve issues the LTB can be involved. In the cases of the Division and Battell properties I have reason to believe neither the landlord nor tenants are acting in reasonable ways. Even with an 18 month wait the LTB would have been involved by now if either party filled an application. Some of the tenants are skilled tradespeople (from Pete Fisher interviews for one source), they could have easily installed smoke detectors without help from the fire department. The issues at these properties are beyond the LTB. Both the landlord and tenants have mental health or drug addiction problems. They are not behaving in a reasonable way. Do we have the right to force help on these people? Some people seem to think it is OK for addicts to do drugs. If drug use only destroyed the lives of the addicts maybe they have a point. But law abiding citizens are being victims of theft and violence. If these people are given housing, tiny homes or otherwise, the housing will be destroyed and they will continue to use drugs.
In the past several days I have been told more people are coming. I do not know how true that is but I did speak to a friendly young man, wanting to buy my hat, who volunteers at Transition House. Something he said did not really add up. Having an extra hat, I stopped at Transition House to leave it for this guy. When I described him to staff I was told he is not a volunteer nor has he done an intake yet. He certainly seemed new to Cobourg. More homeless people, addicts, mental ill and there will be more crime. Yesterday I was told how 2 teenage girls were chased from the beach to Shoppers. The police were called. As caller tried to find the address the guy, who seemed to be on drugs, walked off. Fortunately nobody was injured, this time.
Drug addiction, mental health and homelessness are no excuses for bad behaviour.
The Battell Ct. neighbours endured threats, bullying, thefts, refuse piles, noise, general interruption in their daily lives…about the worst behaviour anyone can receive from a neighbour.
Time for accountability .
Quite frankly, it is fortunate for all involved that neighbours didn’t take matters into their own hands….in the absence of appropriate and effective law enforcement and to protect family, property and self, ordinary people are capable to doing extra ordinary things.
It is a matter of time, in my opinion.
The situation on Battell Court is a mirror of what can and in some cases is happening/going to happen in other areas of Cobourg In my opinion this is because of the current weak Town Leadership, enforcement of By-Laws and other laws by CPS.
Protection for citizens has become a reactionary mandate and is not pro-active. Offenders have identified that Leadership has a top weak links and are capitalizing on this.
Enablers and organizations such as TweakEasy, GWC etc. realize they have a free pass to do what ever they want without repercussions; i.e after the October 2022 municipal election:
1.) tiny cabins became heavily pushed for drug addicts,
2.) Drug Tents started in Cobourg,
3.) Henley Arcade Friday Night Drug/Pizza parties took 5 months to stop,
4.) Encampments started (West Beach, then 1 mile north to 600 William Street, then 2 miles East to Brookside (while Mayor Cleveland took great pride in his By Law that encampments were not his problem – the growing encampment is still located in Cobourg),
5.) Brookside has had to implement Security Officers and establish fencing around the old administration building to keep the encampment people out of the Brookside buildings – so illegal activities must be going,
6.) Brookside eviction notices being ignored.
7.) The Division Street/Chapel Street area has 8-15 (not counting the encampment residents) drug addicts hanging out on the boulevards, church entrance every day and this past week they have been three altercations. It was never this bad before.
So what is going on in Cobourg is not nice and residents needs its elected officials and CPS enforce laws and start protecting law the abiding residents.
Rational,
To change the “catch and release” policy you need to go after the province: Dougie, Piccini and the Attorney General.
To get by-law enforcement to be pro-active and effective go after the CAO. It is an operational issue, not a policy issue.
To get the CPS to “enforce the laws” go after the Cobourg Police Services Board: specifically Dean Pepper (former chair and Council appointed resident), DM Beatty and Clr Bureau (Council’s members on the CPSB. They set the policies that govern how the CPS operates.
You have totally missed the point of what leadership is. And therein lies the problem with Cobourg.
Bryan – To add to my comment I would expect Town Leadership and the Police Chief to figure out what needs to be done as they wanted these jobs. If they need to get the attention of all those you list then that’s on them. They need to stop deflecting.
Bryan, I believe that blaming Doug/David is somewhat misplaced. My understanding is that most of the catch-and-release issues relate to the Federal C-75 passed in 2019. This legislation, aided by a misuse of the Charter by Justin appointed judges, must shoulder much of the blame for the current situation. Two Trudeaus conspiring to destroy Canadian society!
There have been videos of DRPS dropping off homeless persons on university avenue. Same for Peterborough. This needs to stop. Oshawa and Peterborough need to take care of their own.
Thank you Cathy for your reply. Video evidence confirms the rumours I have been hearing. Moving homeless people around may be as effective as rearranging deck chairs. But unlike deck chairs, real living breathing people are actually being moved. Is the current situation really that hopeless? Most of us are going to freeze to death in icy water while a few wait for rescue in life boats. But where are the rescue ships coming from?
Has the “Town” been sitting on its hand for the past umpteen years??? Are we now on the brink of disaster??? What were the past 2 mayors & council doing with their time???
Maybe people will start paying attention to the issues and Vote in the next election. Find out before you vote who Leans Far Left and who might Lean Far Right and who has Common Sense.
It might be worth asking what the citizens of Cobourg were doing the past several years to raise this issue before the “past 2 mayors and council.” We are collectively as much to blame as our politicians.
Where do we read about the charges against the owner for non~compliance?
The press release says that “…the property owner has been non-responsive” yet also mentions “Staff have been working with the owner to remedy the condition of this property.” and “Through coordination with the property owner…“. Which is it?
This particular property owner may not be capable of understanding how to maintain a property. Without rental income she may not have funds to do repairs. The important thing is authorities know her rental properties are out of control and are doing something about it. Maybe the tenants will join the encampment. There does seem to be more tents.
Some of these troubled properties are co-owned ….co-ordination with one….nonresponse with the other?
I’m pleased to see action by the town to make this neighbourhood safe again as l have stated before the the impact these squatters make in these houses is immense….destruction and devastation for the properties they occupy
This is nothing l would wish on any other neighbourhood as we have endured it for five years with little relief. Add in the recent assault to my neighbour by someone visiting Transition House area and its clients who had been visiting the house now closed on Battell in the same 24 hours. It becomes obvious the connections between the largest part of the problems in our town come back to the addicted refusing assistance the drug dealers and the crimes being committed
All of these are very important points…I can’t imagine the level of helplessness, anger, fear and anxiety a property owner must feel when they get a couple of people into their investment property and something like this happens. Its inexcusable that their isn’t an effective mechanism to remove delinquent, deplorable and destructive tenants. These stories also make it very difficult for those in need to find a rental property because landlords have to be so incredibly diligent regarding who they rent to – frankly it is another reason that prices getting driven up – increase the rental prices to limit those who would be eligible.
These stories demonstrate to me that the issue is more complex then affordable housing…encampers need inpatient treatment for addictions and mental health (clean and sober) before getting monitored/supported transitional housing…not apartments.
Absolutely agree!! I have been saying for some time that the “Housing First” model that has been implemented for the last 5 years is not a one fix for all and a failure. Start with inpatient care for addiction and mental health …. then employment and housing where and when applicable.
The truly homeless jump to the front of the que and get the consideration of their misfortune recognized and efforts of responsibility, accountability and respect appreciated
There appears to be three elements in the mix of this societal issue: those who are addicts, those with mental health issues, and those who fell on hard times. To mix these three elements together into a residence of first come first serve is exceedingly unwise. They need to be addressed separately. No one in their right mind would put a piranha into an aquarium with minnows and goldfish.
Couldn’t be stated more colourfully
I digress from 821 Battell Court to 10 Chapel Street (Transition House) due to its above stated connection. We can’t be the only ones who wonder how this five bedroom Historical Home, suited for ten people, evades the occupancy rate for Ontario to become a shelter for twice that number and within a densely populated residential area?
Its time that transition house is closed and moved to another location in the county.A bylaw should be created preventing another one popping up in the downtown area. The transition house that originally was approved to open on chapel street is not the same and what once was a good idea is not anymore.
In agreement here ..Many letters from our neighbourhood pleading for this very consideration have gone to County officials, Provincial offices. Premier of Ontario, Cobourg police services board, town councilors, the Mayor, the Historical society.
No other community in southern Ontario has a shelter located in a Heritage district.
The struggle continues
The existing Golden Plough Lodge would seem to be ideal for this purpose, once it becomes available next summer when the new GPL opens for occupancy.
The county has said they plan to demolish it instead.
A proposal l personnally submitted to Piccini”s office some time ago, in attempt to gain his attention and support and to suggest the potential. At that time l felt no need complaining of our troubled triangle [Transition House, Warming space, and known drug dealing houses in close proximity Chapel/College/James/John] without offering a solution.
The result was a “lip service” blanket reply that was ,l’m sure, being handed out to answer any inquiries at that point in time as the Premier’s office had just announced new funding for the problems facing communities as to the increasing number of troubled folk.[l don’t like the term “homeless” because that is not the real source of the issue…drug abuse and enabling is the root]
Each community receiving monies were to instrument programs for solutions….a joke, we cannot help those who refuse to help themselves
Thank you for your efforts in this regard.
(Did you just create the term “our troubled triangle” by the way?)
I’ve been calling my neighbourhood the Troubled triangle for some time spoke of it with our past Mayor Mr. Henderson
Jim, I complete support the idea of repurposing the existing Golden Plough. Given many people have been using ‘housing crisis’ locally and nationally, the county has created a new corporation to provide housing, higher interest rates making mortgages payments higher the need for housing is going not going away and will be expensive. I have not checked the details but the Ford government has made some changes to their position on the Green Belt so maybe we can get the county to change its position on the Golden Plough. People against this idea will point out the cost of renovations and staffing. What does it cost now to staff Transition House, the warming room, create and staff a new housing corporation etc? I suggested moving the Help Centre in as well. They currently pay rent in their existing space so why not have their office close to the people who need the most help? Some rooms could be rented out to workers. There are so many option instead of demolition.
I think I know where you live so I will drop off contact information, we can meet and discuss possible strategies. Maybe ‘downtowner’ will be interested in helping out. He/she should be easy to find.
Very well said Kevin. Efficient delivery of salient points. I know Downtowner for a very long time. Downtowner lives in the same neighbourhood I grew up in. Downtowner has the energy, motivation, the information, and most important, the smarts. When you get together you can call your selves The Triumphant Trio cleans up the Troubled Triangle. Stay tuned for Episode One: The Meeting. Stanza O from me to you.
Thank you for your words of support Wally. I am looking forward to my next conversation with Downtowner, who I too know, for several years now. There are lots of complaints, for good reason, so hopefully there will be people with ideas as well. Ideas to make things better in Cobourg. The longer I live here the more connections I make. It is my home, I do not want to leave so I will try to find solutions to problems. Downtowner’s problems, my problems and most importantly the problems of the homeless. Hopefully Jim and many others will help.
Yet we would have the same problem of addicts and those with mental health issues interacting with staff/residents at the retirement/LTC home. Whoever was in power at the county thought that it was a great idea for transition house to integrate a low barrier facility in a residential area should have given their head a shake.
Truer words have never been spoken…this edition of Transition House was foisted upon our neighbourhood without introduction, discussion, preparation, or consideration.
It resulted at a time when…imagine our surprise…funding was being allotted to push the Housing First model …after an incident at the previous Transition House, a true shelter for people [families] suffering a displacement crisis.
The incident revealed shortfalls in the training of staff and a temporary closure resulted
BOOM the barriers were lowered funding applied and here we are
Not to mention fire codes and the recent assault that took place.