There was nothing but support around the horseshoe and in council chambers on Thursday afternoon as council discussed the creation of a Not-for-Profit Affordable Housing Corporation.
Nine people from the gallery spoke as to how the creation of such a corporation would benefit residents at Shire Hall before councillors threw in their two cents, dubbing this project one of the most important ones they’ve dealt with this term.
Neil Carbone, the Director of Community Development, believes they could have the corporation established as early as January.
Council selected Treat Hull, Gordon Fox and Roy Pennell as initial directors to sign paperwork to get the ball rolling.
Once the new council is elected, only two councillors will sit on the Board of Directors.
Council also allocated up to $10,000 from the 2018 funds for Affordable Housing for this corporation.
Any remaining funds from the Affordable Housing fund would be placed in a reserve and transferred to the Prince Edward County Housing Corporation as seed funding following the adoption of the by-laws.
Councillor Steve Ferguson told his fellow councillors he found some interesting information.
Using a website called Air DNA, he discovered there are 1,035 short term rental properties in Prince Edward County. For comparison, there are 953 in Musoka and 387 in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Ferguson stated of those rental properties in the County, 83% are entire homes, prompting him to ask for a report from staff to look at putting a municipal transient accommodation tax in place on short-term rental properties in the county.
Final consideration on this report and the establishment of the Affordable Housing Corporation will come during the September 11 meeting.
