Council unanimously voted to approve a task force that will take on affordable housing in Midland.
The group will consist of the mayor, a councillor, the town's strategic advisor and three members of the public, who will be invited to participate in the process.
Among the objectives of this task force will be the compilation of an inventory of surplus municipal lands for the purpose of determining suitability for affordable/attainable housing. This process is currently underway.
The group will also research the various governance models for affordable housing as well as the various incentives for affordable housing that other municipalities have supported. The task force will also advocate senior levels of government for funding, policies and programs that support housing affordability and help residents access housing options.
Among the approvals was also $27,000, which will come from the reserve 2020 Community Grant Program.
Coun. Beth Prost said she was unclear on what the money was needed for.
"Are we hiring somebody?" she asked Mayor Stewart Strathearn.
"We may have to, depending on what's available through the town records, do a topographical survey," he said, explaining what the money could possibly be used for. "There are staff time allocations, too. The rest of the time, there's no compensation, it's people putting forward their time and expertise."
He said that the group hopes to bring forward a detailed report by the end of October.
Prost said maybe the money could just be put aside and be used as needed.
Amanpreet Sidhu, executive director of corporate services/town solicitor, added to the issue.
"I think I can answer one of the questions posed which is about the money," he said. "I can assure council that a lot of thought went into that. The project, as it is, is reaching for the stars. The biggest and the best bang for our $27,000 for any of our projects in Midland would be this one. I think it would be counterproductive to hobble this project by taking the money away."
Coun. Jon Main said he was looking forward to the project coming together, but suggested some ways of refining the terms of reference.
"The one thing I think is really critical is that we continue to prioritize brownfield remediation of municipal buildings we have," he said. "I know Mayor Strathearn is promoting these fantastic affordable housing initiatives, but some of that is greenfield. I always support intensification over greenfield development. We have the ability to tap into brownfield remediation funds through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM)."
As well, Main said the town should continue to promote existing programs already in place such as the County of Simcoe's aging in place program.
By some estimates, he said, there's a two-year period anticipated for the recovery of housing prices.
"If we have that window of extreme economic recovery, it would be wise to promote the short-term goals of the second unit," said Main. "I think that's where we should point our attention to as a short-term solution and keep working away at the long-term big ideas, which the task force is going to be set up for."
