South Frontenac Committee of the Whole - Plans for Seniors’ Affordable Housing in Verona

Wilma Kenny | Oct 14, 2020

CAO Carbone presented an outline of the current stage of planning to develop more affordable housing options for Seniors in South Frontenac. Since 2017, the Township has been working toward this, and this year purchased appropriate property in Verona. Although housing for Seniors is the primary focus, Carbone said a secondary purpose of the project was to also provide affordable housing for people of other ages, and to support the revitalization of Verona.

To this end, a staff Task Team has been meeting with Kingston Frontenac Housing Corporation (which is owned by the City of Kingston) regarding possible consulting, project management and contracted operation. As well, the township’s legal team has been asked for recommendations on structure and governance of an affordable housing development. A number of seniors’ housing projects in Eastern Ontario have been visited, although no mention was made of Loughborough Housing Association and the two apartment complexes they manage in Sydenham.

Mayor Vandewal cautioned that it would be crucial to know who would be managing the project: “Verona is still unhappy about how things went bad (with their last attempt to provide housing for seniors.) They don’t want to be taken over by anyone else.” Carbone assured him that “This presentation is giving an overview of possibilities, but does not represent actual decisions.”

Next steps would include hiring a planning consultant and holding public consultations, as well as gathering more data on current rental market demand, choosing a means of governance, and identifying financing sources. This would be followed by site plans, architectural drawings, and actual steps toward construction and marketing. The final goal is to have a project up and running by early 2023.

Council had few questions or comments but seemed generally supportive of the project.

2021 Long Range Financial Plan

Louise Fragnito, Director of Corporate Services and Treasurer, presented a long-term plan that looked beyond the annual budget process, which the Township is currently entering. She emphasized that this long-term plan does not commit Council to its specific items or numbers, but does help to combine both forecasting and strategies for getting and keeping financial balance. It is intended to plan for the future by thinking ahead and maintaining the flexibility to be prepared to adapt to changing conditions while still being mindful of Council’s priority, ‘to deliver cost-effective services in a changing world’.

Fragnito outlined three key challenges that the township faces in the next few years: infrastructure funding, climate change, and the need to mitigate risk and uncertainty. Estimates show that an annual tax rate increase only fractionally higher than the current goal of 2% should be sufficient to meet the forecasted yearly fluctuations and still maintain an excellent reserve.

Council agreed to endorse Fragnito’s report “as presented”: it is for information, but does not commit them to any specific actions.

The details of this very full report are available on the township’s website, in the meeting agenda notes for Oct 13 COW.

2021 CAO Priorities Report

Further to his annual performance review, CAO Carbone presented a report outlining 19 proposed goals and objectives for the coming year, for Council’s comments and approval.

Deputy Mayor Sutherland said he would like a review of the committee structure, with a view to bringing more issues to COW as a whole, in order to get a broader range of discussion which might lead in turn to a tighter Council meetings. Mayor Vandewal agreed, “We used to have more meetings where we could all talk about issues and ideas.” He added that he hoped to see Council give priority to moving ahead with the revision of the Official Plan: “We’re headed in the right direction, but there’s a lot to be done yet.”

Council accepted Carbone’s report with no other recommendations or major revisions.

Frontenac County Offices Closed

Councillor Revill reported that due to a staff member of Fairmount having tested positive for Covid19, the County offices have been completely shut down: it is possible that any actual County Council meetings may be conducted, with social distancing, in the South Frontenac Township Hall.

COW was adjourned briefly, to be followed by an in camera session.