By Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice
Despite strong opposition from some members of Chatham-Kent council, the municipality is buying Meadow Park long-term care home with the goal of converting it into affordable housing.
At its Oct. 7 meeting, council approved the purchase of the Sandy Street facility in Chatham from Jarlette Health Services for $1.7 million.
The vote was 10-6 in favour.
However, some councillors strongly disagreed, saying the municipality shouldn’t be acquiring property in light of a looming tax increase.
“My feeling is that we can’t continue to purchase assets when our taxpayers are being crippled by the continued imposition of increased taxes,” said North Kent Coun. Rhonda Jubenville, noting there’s no guarantee CK will receive upper tier government funding for the project.
“We are continually told that items like these won’t have tax implications, but yet our taxes continue to rise.”
Councillors pointed out that the municipality has already purchased the former St. Agnes School for a similar project.
Chatham Coun. Michael Bondy stated he too opposed the purchase, citing the fact that Christian charity Indwell had failed to get provincial or federal funding to develop supportive housing at St. Agnes.
“I’m almost shocked that we are buying another location,” Bondy told council, adding he thought investing in smaller developments such as duplexes is a better idea.
But on the flip side, some councillors stated provincial and federal funding grants are normally contingent on having properties that are shovel ready.
West Kent Coun. Melissa Harrigan, who works in health-care management, said that when governments dispense funding, they want projects to be ready to go.
“Us not having these assets on our books ready to be used for housing is actually a deterrent,” Harrigan said in support of the purchase.
“We certainly won’t get grants if we can’t implement things in some of the stringent timelines that are proposed,” she said.
Council heard that more supportive housing is needed.
“We don’t have enough supportive housing stock to address the issue,” said Jodi Guilmette, C-K’s general manager of health and human services. “I believe this is a good purchase.”
There was plenty of discussion about the fact that municipalities have been forced to take on the role of providing affordable housing, which is a provincial and federal responsibility.
As of August, Chatham-Kent had 1,250 households on the waitlist for affordable housing, capping a three-month period that saw the list grow by 8.5 per cent. Officials said that if the list continues to grow at that rate, there will be 1,400 households on the list by the end of 2024.
A total of 25 per cent of those on the list are seniors; 42 per cent are adults under age 65 in need of one-bedroom units and 33 per cent are families in need of multi-bedroom units.
Located on a three-acre lot on the corner of Sandys Street and Poplar Street, Meadow Park has operated as a seniors’ residence for a number of years. Jarlette is currently building a new 160-bed seniors home on McNaughton Avenue.
The agreement allows the municipality to proceed with designing the affordable housing complex. A total of $700,000 in repairs will be required in the revamp. The amount is not budgeted into the purchase price.
According to a report from administration, pending further approvals, the site won’t be available for new tenants until 2027.
Chief financial officer Gord Quinton said the property is a prime location and can be sold if the housing project does not proceed.
