There were already thoughts about the June meeting of the Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee in May when a housing matter came to Guelph City Council for discussion. Now in the realm of the County of Wellington, Temporary Structured Encampments will get further discussion, but will it get any further direction? Also, it’s just one of several housing related items on this last agenda before summer vacation.
NOTE: This meeting takes place at 1 pm in the council chambers at the Wellington County Administration Building on Woolwich Street.
DELEGATIONS: There are five delegations who have signed up to speak to Temporary Structured Encampments, and there’s also a correspondence from Kevin Coghill of the Royal City Mission.
65 Delhi Transitional Housing Construction Project: Status Report # 6 – The installation of mechanical, electric, drywall and other construction work continues. Also, work on the exterior facade will begin soon as will as window installation and exterior servicing and civil work. The project is still on track to be completed before the end of the year.
Tender Award: Roof Replacement and MUA at 263 Speedvale Avenue East – First, MUA stands for make-up-air units, which is a type of HVAC solution that pulls in fresh, tempered air from outside your building to replace existing air that cannot be recirculated. This work, along with the accompanying roofing work, should be awarded to Roque Roofing Inc. of Hamilton for $704,000 plus HST if committee follows the staff recommendation.
Financial Statements and Variance Projections as of May 31, 2024 – Considering this report comes almost halfway through the year, there’s a little more detail about where things are right now in terms of the fiscal year. In terms of Ontario Works, everything is mostly inline with the budget, but the programmes line is over budget by $240,000 due to a higher than expected case load. Childcare is also on budget, at least in the areas where it’s not under budget, but the real surprise is housing an social services.
According to the report, most areas are on budget, and the one area where things are over budget, there’s compensation from additional grant money. Right now, staff are projecting a year-end positive variance of $1 million, but there is a plan to be discussed in the closed agenda that requires the allocation of $350,000.
Paramedic Service Response Performance 2023 and Performance Plan 2025 – For a while now, members of the committee from the County have been asking for more specific analysis of the Guelph Pandemic Service response performance in different area of the county, and they get it in this report. Looking at the averages, you will notice that the closer a township is to Guelph, like Guelph/Eramosa or Puslinch, then the short the average call time is compared to areas in the further reaches of the region like Wellington North or Erin. The report notes the ongoing challenges of increasing call volumes and the uncertainty about future hospital offload delays, but they are not presently recommending any changes to performance targets for 2025.
2023 Housing and Homelessness Plan Annual Report – This is the annual update of the County’s 10-year strategy, the fourth one since work began in 2020. There’s no formal committee summery with this item, just the 34-page report itself, but the report outlines 2023 accomplishments like the completion of Bellevue at Wyndham House, new affordable seniors housing at St. Joseph’s, and an Indigenous Housing Outreach worker pilot.
Reaching Home: One-Time Funding Winter 2023-24 Unsheltered Homelessness Summary – As you may recall, the County of Wellington received federal funds earlier this year to help support unhoused people, and others who are at risk of being unhoused. This report breaks down how that money was spent including over $462,000 for temporary shelter, $105,000 for permanent housing solutions, and $37,359 for homelessness prevention like utility payments and arrears.
Health and Housing Community Plan: Verbal Update – The third and final day of the Health and Housing Symposium was in April, and while there’s presumably a formal report still under development, the committee will, at least, get a verbal report at this meeting.
Correspondence from City of Guelph – This is technically the agenda item for Temporary Structured Encampments noting the mayor’s original directive and the formal resolutions adapted at Guelph city council last month. That decision essentially referred Guelph Tiny Homes Coalition’s proposal for A Better Tent City-style project to this committee and county housing staff to consider its viability. There’s no formal report or recommendation from County staff included in the report.
Guelph Politico 