City eyes housing project funding boost

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This article was published 21/05/2024 (489 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon City Council is set to decide this evening whether it should give the John Howard Society of Brandon’s transitional housing project a funding boost after construction costs turned out to be greater than expected.

The society has been working on the development of a 24-unit transitional housing project at 353 16th St. North that will also house a sobering centre.

According to the agenda for the meeting, while a detailed design has been finished and permits are waiting to be issued, tenders for the construction of the facility came back above the estimate cost.

“The applicant is actively exploring options to manage the additional project costs, including construction scope and additional funding opportunities with the provincial government,” an agenda document says.

To assist the project, the document says the city has found $198,500 in unallocated grant funds from a $4.12-million Manitoba Housing Renewal Corporation grant it received in 2021 as well as $275,513 in interest.

City staff have reached out to the province to see if those funds can be allocated toward the transitional housing project and administration is recommending that Brandon transfer a further $200,000 to the project from its affordable housing reserve.

The city previously supported the project by selling the land being used for $1 and approving up to $20,000 in land assembly costs like surveying and environmental studies.

Last year, the federal government announced $5 million in funding for the project through the Rapid Housing Initiative.

Then, before last year’s provincial election, the former Progressive Conservative government pledged another $4 million toward the project.

To receive the funds from higher levels of government, the agenda says certain timelines need to be met.

In other business, Coun. Bruce Luebke (Ward 6) is bringing forward two agenda items at the meeting.

The first is a request for city council and administration to formally lay out a schedule for each year’s budgeting process, setting deadlines for when documents are presented to council, for when documents are released to the public, pre-budget special meetings, deliberations, final changes to the budget and the final public hearing.

In an agenda document, Luebke says he’d like that timeline to be established at the city’s annual organization meeting normally held in November.

“It is crucial that information be provided in a timely and orderly fashion to be enable the City Council to prepare and plan for budget deliberations effectively,” the document says.

“A well-defined timeline, set well in advance of this significant process, not only increases notice and awareness of when information becomes available but also enhances transparency for residents, indicating when the budget will be available and discussed publicly.”

Luebke is also returning to an issue he has previously advocated for at Tuesday’s meeting — image enforcement.

For the last few years, Luebke has argued that the province should grant Brandon the power to implement image-based enforcement on its streets. Under provincial legislation, currently only Winnipeg has the authority to use it.

“The current regulation permits the use of image-capturing enforcement systems which include intersection safety camera systems, vehicle-mounted photo radar systems, trailer-mounted photo radar systems, and vehicle-mounted photo laser systems,” an agenda document says.

“However, authorization to use these systems is limited to the City of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Police Service on behalf of the City of Winnipeg.”

The Ward 6 councillor is proposing four options: to request the Association of Manitoba Municipalities consider a resolution calling for the expansion of image enforcement powers at its fall convention, to have the city submit a request directly to the province, to request the city’s Vision Zero Task Force analyze the situation and report back to council by Sept. 16 or to carry out all three of the previous options.

In February, Brandon Municipal Airport manager Greg Brown presented a draft of a new master plan for the facility to help guide its development over the next 20 years. On Tuesday, council will vote on whether to officially adopt the plan.

After the Brandon Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee first recommended the Queen Anne-style home at 318 11th St. be designated a municipal heritage site earlier this year, city council will hold a public hearing about doing just that on Tuesday.

The house was previously home to former alderman John McDonald and former mayor Harry Cater.

If any objections are received, council has the option of either amending the bylaw granting the site heritage status or referring the matter to the Municipal Board for an appeal hearing.

If no objections are made, council can proceed with holding second and third readings for the bylaw later in the meeting.

Last month, Manitoba’s Public Utilities Board issued a report approving the implementation of a deficit rate rider on the city’s water and wastewater utility rates worth $0.033 per cubic metre. On Tuesday, council will hold the first reading of a bylaw implementing that rate rider.

The city has previously said the rider would add around $6.07 to the average family of four’s annual bill or around 51 cents to a monthly bill.

Sheri Connery and Jenn Watson will make a presentation asking for the city to grant the Salamander Music Festival a community event designation. The festival is scheduled to take place from July 19-21 at Rideau Park.

A community event designation is required for events where tickets are not sold in advance that wish to sell alcohol.

In 2022, city council approved Brandon University’s conditional use application to install urban bee hives on the roof of the Knowles Douglas Centre for its “Bee U” project. On Tuesday, Deanna Smid and Grant Hamilton will provide council with a progress update.

Council will also hold third reading on a bylaw establishing an incentive program for the construction of market-rate housing in downtown Brandon and third reading of a bylaw establishing a new southwest secondary plan.

In a special meeting being starting at 5:45 p.m., before the regular meeting, council will discuss a land sale on Victoria Avenue East and hold a property negotiation. This meeting is in-camera and closed to the public.

Regular meetings take place at 7 p.m. in council chambers on the second floor of Brandon City Hall. Meetings are broadcast live on WCGtv and livestreamed on the city’s YouTube page.

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