Is affordable housing slipping off the radar at city hall?
Not really. The city's current council is just content with playing catch-up for now, said Mayor Nolan Crouse.
The issue is on the list of council priorities released earlier this week but there's no new initiatives or funding in the works.
"We're not going to put any additional taxpayers' money into affordable housing until we hear back from the province on some of their programs as well as the large capital projects that we've applied for," Crouse said.
Council is committed to continuing the city's current efforts, such as seeking a provincial grant for Big Lake Pointe and seeing Aurora Place through to completion in Akinsdale, he said.
"It doesn't mean we take it off the agenda, it just doesn't get highlighted for a while until we complete the work we have in front us," Crouse said.
Provincial grants for the city's basement suite and transitional housing programs are due to run out sometime in 2012 and there's no indication yet whether a renewed commitment is in the cards.
"There's uncertainty in the future of affordable housing money from the province," Crouse said.
"If the province doesn't come forward with some additional money for affordable housing, then we're going to be stretched."
Doug Horner, PC MLA for Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert, and a recently declared candidate for his party's leadership, said only that the province remains committed to its affordable housing plan that targets 11,000 new units by 2012.
"I think they're going to exceed that. Certainly the minister has been working diligently with the dollars," he said. "These are hundreds of millions of dollars that have been committed to affordable housing."
Needs assessment
The level of need for affordable housing in St. Albert has come under scrutiny in recent months, with the mayor himself raising questions shortly after the election. Public hearings last year for a Habitat for Humanity project in Akinsdale, now called Aurora Place, prompted resident skepticism about the true depth of the problem.
Coun. Cathy Heron feels the need is high, based on her background of volunteering with the community services advisory board, the food bank and Parents' Place.
"There's people using the food bank that are couch surfing," she said. "There's definitely a need."
St. Albert Housing Society chair Stanley Haroun also believes the city's efforts are "only scratching the surface" but admits this perception is based on the city's five-year-old study.
"Maybe it's time for us to also do a brand new study and see where we stand in terms of the need," he said.
