A council meeting in August? It doesn’t usually happen, but if you are a dedicated reader in this space, you have been expecting the announcement. If you’re familiar with the events at the regular council meeting at the end of July, then you will remember that there was one rather big new item on a tight deadline that needs an answer, and in this special August meeting of council, we will get that answer.
NOTE #1: Delegates will be able to appear at this meeting or via tele-presense but you do have to register with the clerks office before 10 am on Friday June 11. You can also submit written delegations and correspondences for agenda items.
NOTE #2: This meeting will be live-streamed on the City of Guelph’s website here.
NOTE #3: This is the last meeting of council until September 6.
Funding Support for Kindle Communities Supportive Housing – As you may recall, there was a motion requesting that staff partner with the Home for Good campaign to leverage up to $500,000 from the City’s Affordable Housing Reserve for matching funds. That money will be allocated to the completion of the Kindle Communities supportive housing project on Shelldale. Council reserved a decision until a future meeting so that staff would have more of a chance to weight in, and this is that meeting.
In short, staff are recommending that council award $500,000 to the Kindle Communities project on Shelldale Crescent. Removed from the new motion is any wording about matching funds, so this appears to be a straight up transfer to the project.
“By contributing these additional funds at this time, it will ensure the project meets its requirements with CMHC, and ultimately will be able to open on time in fall 2023, which will ensure that 32 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness have a supportive housing unit available to them before the winter,” the report said.
The funding agreement with the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) was contingent on a mid-August deadline for the Home For Good campaign to raise over $700,000 in additional funding. In the report, the City hopes that this is a demonstration of the their ongoing commitment to the project that will encourage others to continue with their giving.
If approved, the additional $500,000 will increase the City of Guelph’s total contribution to the project to $1.86 million, and it will leave about $75,000 in the Affordable Housing Reserve. The staff report says that as of this time, they are “not aware of any pending shovel-ready project that is looking for funds from the reserve.”
Guelph Politico 