" $ 5 6 " - * 5 4 r / & 8 4 AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS ON THE MIND OF CITY COUNCIL
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
A discussion about what to do with the old Clarence Creek fire hall station also got members of Clarence-Rockland council talking about affordable housing needs for the community. The mid-December council agenda included a report from Alain Hupé, one of the district chiefs with the Clarence-Rockland Fire Department, about the future of the old Station 2 fire hall in Clarence Creek. The report suggested any plans for replacing the building might also be combined with an affordable housing project. “Station 2 has reached its life expectancy and operational effectiveness as a fire sta- tion,” stated Hupé’s report, adding that the building was constructed in 1985 and is now too small to provide adequate service. The report noted that the social services and housing department of the United Coun- ties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR) did a needs assessment on affordable housing for the whole region. The UCPR study indicated that there is a serious need for affordable housing in the Clarence-Rockland area for single mothers and their children. The current wait time for them on the housing services’ priority list for affordable housing is about a year and a half. The Hupé report suggested that the city’s protective services department could do a
La caserne de pompiers de Clarence Creek vieillit et est presque à la fin de sa durée de vie utile. Lors de récentes discussions sur l’avenir du bâtiment, le conseil municipal de Clarence-Rockland a également évoqué les besoins de la municipalité en matière de logement abordable. —photo Gregg Chamberlain
project would be feasible. “They could do the feasibility study and come back to us,” said Councillor Sam Car- darell. “But I would want to see definitely how this could work.” Following further debate on the report, councillors voted 6-2 against the feasibility study proposal but several noted that there would be more discussion at future sessions about Clarence-Rockland’s affordable hou- sing needs.
feasibility study in partnership with local or regional social service agencies. The focus of the study would determine how to combine construction of a new fire station project for Clarence Creek with a small-scale affordable housing development. Preliminary investigation by the protective services department indicated that the City of Vancouver in British Columbia combined construction of a new neighbourhood fire station for the city’s Killarney district with a
31-unit affordable housing addition that the :8$"NBOBHFT The Hupé report suggested Clarence- Rockland might be able to do a similar project when the city decides to build a new Clarence Creek fire station. “I applaud any project that helps with affordable housing,” said Councillor Mario Zanth, though both he and Councillor Don Bouchard questioned whether combining a new fire station with an affordable housing
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