Renfrew County is asking Renfrew Town Council to support them in the construction/building of forty modular units on the grounds of the Bonnechere Manor property.
The units will be of the prefabricated type, and will be a step towards alleviating some of the pressure felt by citizens when searching for affordable housing.
The target demographics are seniors not yet ready to enter long-term care/supportive accommodation and support workers who work either with these people, or with the people in the Manor proper. A possibility exists that affordable housing for people not in the first two groups might also be made available through the project.
The County is asking the Town to waive the usual fees associated with the building of homes or housing, a number that’s in the area of some $58,000 in lost fees.
So “lost’ is a relative term, and when put into the broader perspective, this loss in fees is more than balanced by provision of desperately needed housing, something Director Eric Withers says is something that wouldn’t likely be otherwise attainable in Renfrew.
The entirety of the project is still very much in the planning stage, with any work being done being of the preliminary kind to prepare the site for the eventual construction. That construction may well be dependant upon grant money or other funds that aren’t currently in place, but would nevertheless make the project “shovel ready” should the requisite funding become available. So, in the beginning, infrastructure and servicing requirements can be dealt with now to pave the way for construction at some time in the future.
This is an opportunity for the Town of Renfrew to join with the County of Renfrew to address two significant developments, those being the shortage of housing in Canada generally, as well as driving infrastructure projects to assist the economy, especially in the face of tariffs and other threats from our unreliable and recently hostile neighbour, the United States.
The actual construction and ancillary costs will be borne by the County, primarily through funding successfully obtained through the grant process.
There are other areas within the town limits where similar projects could be undertaken in a like-minded collaboration. Two such areas include a parcel of land along Francis Street that requires a variance to move forward, as well as a significant parcel of land behind Renfrew County Place.
Wherever such housing is to be built, these units will remain the property of The County of Renfrew, so every one of these will be rental rather than owned by the occupants.
There was some concern about the possibility of setting some sort of precedent that other developers may wish to cite in their own endeavours in building things, including housing. Director Withers pointed out that Renfrew County is a public entity, or developer if you will, and that sets them apart from a private developer. As well, if a private developer were to approach the town with a project idea that contained “affordable” housing, Council could consider that proposal in light in potentially waiving fees and charges.
Also, how do we know that these completed units will be dedicated towards people currently living in Renfrew? The short answer is, we don’t. There’s a County-wide waiting list for affordable housing and a successful placement would be dependant upon the candidate’s position on that waiting list.
Reeve Emon, also the Warden of Renfrew County, indicated that the cost of adding additional long-care beds in the County is prohibitive, and these types of units proposed are actually less expensive to the County. It’s also beneficial for elderly couples where one partner, but not both, is entering long-term care while the other is not yet ready or doesn’t qualify. It gives such couples an opportunity to stay within reasonable “reach” of one another, an enlightened approach to society’s dealing with an aging demographic.
That’s important because, well, we’re all getting older, and that demographic graph shows that most of us are there already.
NEWSMAGRENFREW 