Daytona Beach, FL - The news that the Daytona Beach city manager has decided that the city should not be part of the creation of a Safe Zone at First Step Shelter has some Board members up in arms. Chase Tramont says he wants to set the record straight. He does not think the city of Daytona Beach is responsible for financing or building the Safe Zone. Tramont said that the news about Daytona Beach has been blown out of proportion a little bit because he never had the expectation that they would build it.
Tramont said the real questions are where the Safe Zone will be located and what will it cost. He says the Safe Zone is not required for the First Step Shelter but to be in compliance with the Pottinger Act, each city is supposed to provide a Safe Zone for the homeless. The idea of having it at Frist Step Shelter is why the city of Port Orange agreed to provide $200,000 annually. Tramont has said it before and is saying it again now if there's no Safe Zone at First Step, the city of Port Orange will pull out of the deal.
A big problem with getting the Safe Zone done is the partnership with Catholic Charities. Tramont says what they have suggested at the cost of $275,000 along with another $150,000 annually to run the Safe Zone is just too much. Tramont said he thinks a Safe Zone could be done for a lot less money. He said, "We don't even know how frequent this is going to be used. There might not be anyone there." He said he'd rather start small and go big if and when necessary.
The Safe Zone was not on yesterday's agenda but it did get discussed. Tramont said he thinks Catholic Charities request is unwarranted. The real issue is that the cities involved in funding First Step Shelter are doing so because they were promised a Safe Zone so that they could be Pottinger Act compliant.
The board asked Executive Director Victoria Fahlberg to come back with options for a safe zone at the shelter site by its next meeting. Tramont says the board wants to move on the issue quickly. It seems the consensus is the board will pay for and design the safe zone with city approval.
