City of Pembroke, Ont. facing potential lawsuit after blocking The Grind's building purchase

Pembroke's 'The Grind' fights to stay in location A kitchen and community hub in Pembroke for the homeless is facing a fight to stay in their location. CTV's Dylan Dyson explains.

The Grind community kitchen and community hub in Pembroke, Ont. could bring a potential legal battle to the City of Pembroke.

At a city meeting Monday night, members of city council voted to revoke the right of The Grind to purchase its current building, 273 Victoria St., from the city.

Back in 2020, the city and The Grind signed a lease agreement which allowed The Grind to purchase the location by June 13, 2025, the day the lease expires, at a cost of $210,000.

"We were very disappointed to hear that Pembroke City Council has decided not to sell The Grind building to us," said Dave Henderson, a member of the board of directors at The Grind.

"Yes, it is built into the lease. They have a contractual right to [purchase], and to not sell it to them would be breaking the law," said Pembroke mayor Ron Gervais to CTV News.

Gervais says he was one of two council members at the meeting to vote against the decision to revoke the purchasing right.

"As long as they were in good standing, and they are, they had the right to purchase the building. I put forward a motion that they be allowed to purchase that portion of the building. I had no seconder.

"Council has said that despite the lease, they do not have the right to purchase the building. They do have the right to continue to lease it until June 2025."

The mayor said some members believe The Grind should be put in the hands of Renfrew County's new Mesa program, while others have been influenced by continued complaints brought forwarded from nearby residents.

Krista Zingel has lived across the street from The Grind for two years. She says living in such close proximity has impacted her home life, with excessive drug use taking place nearby and paraphernalia left on her property.

"Being exposed to a toxic drug supply is very difficult," she told CTV News.

"I had someone smoking crack in one of the senior centre's parking spaces, one of The Grind clients, yesterday."

Zingel says the current location of The Grind is not appropriate for the work it is doing, suggesting its clientele would be served better in a different location.

"Why would you want to stay in a location that's proven itself to not be suitable for an already saturated, very child centric, senior centric, residential centric, dead end residential road?"

Henderson admits The Grind has continued to fight for its place in the community.

"There have been concerns among neighbors, but we address those concerns every day."

Gervais says not honouring the contract with The Grind now opens the city up to a potential lawsuit.

He says despite the city's lawyer offering advice at the meeting prior to the vote, the decision was still made.

"Legal counsel said that he did not feel that there was a defendable position regarding any nuisance that was being alleged by certain members of the community that would allow us to not sell to them."

Henderson says despite the outcome of the vote, The Grind will continue to operate.

"That doesn't deter us for a single minute from our primary goal, and that is to help the most vulnerable people in our community."

The Grind says they have invested one million dollars to renovate the former fire hall into the community hub it is now.

Henderson says that investment was made with the knowledge that the purchase of the building would make The Grind's position permanent, allowing them to continue serving the community.

"The Grind expects to continue to vigorously pursue the option to purchase this building as was set out in the original lease agreement five years ago."