As Haliburton County struggles to house moderate-income earners, staffers with the towns of Collingwood and Frontenac County will share success stories at a housing summit Oct. 24 in Minden.

Claire de Souza, the housing development coordinator for the Town of Collingwood, and Joe Gallivan, the director of planning and economic development for the County of Frontenac, are keynote speakers at the Minden Hills Community Centre.

Forum spokesperson, Fay Martin of Places for People, says, “this will be the third time we’ve taken a deep dive into what’s happening in Haliburton County to create the housing people who live and work here need. The day will open and close with from-away guests sharing experiences that have relevance to Haliburton County.” There will be panel discussions on worker housing and densification.

De Souza was hired because Collingwood councillors recognized they had an affordable housing crisis. The town established an affordable housing task force in 2021 and has done a housing needs assessment. The task force remains active today.

De Souza highlighted some of the current, and planned projects, during an interview with The Highlander Oct. 11.

She said they are targeting people with household incomes of $74,000-$109,000, calculating they can afford to buy a home valued at $248,000 to $366,000. Those earning $47,000-$68,000 would be looking at rental rates of $1,200-$1,700-a-month.

“You never see these prices, so that shows us how far away we are from what is actually affordable for folks in the community,” she said. “That is the challenge; how do we get things like that built? What can we do? What can the private sector do? What can the non-market developer group do, or the non-profit development community do, to hit those markers?”

‘Every other township in Ontario can do it’

They responded with a rapid additional residential unit (RARU) program. Part of that is a concierge service. De Souza walks people through the sometimes “technical” planning and building process for affordable housing, or purpose-built rentals. “I try my best to streamline where possible.

After launching the program, she said building permits more than doubled, to 22 from eight.

They also provide pre-approved designs. De Souza explains they put an open call to designers, manufacturers, architecs and builders. Their designs go through town hall and get a stamp of approval with the designs posted on the township website.

“If you’re the average homeowner who’s never done this before, check out these preapproved designs. A lot of the work is done for you. You can contact the designer directly to use the design and it just streamlines the process.”

Another recent move is passing a zoning bylaw amendment. De Souza notes while Bill 23 allows three total units, they’re allowing four on serviced residential properties.

In addition, the town just announced a new seed funding opportunity to help increase the supply of affordable housing.

New or existing housing organizations are now invited to apply to receive up to $25,000. It’s for non-profit or not-for-profits that can develop, own, and operate affordable housing in the community.

Overcoming barriers

The housing development coordinator said she understands the barriers to affordable housing cited by the County of Haliburton and its four lower-tier townships, such as high building costs and a lack of developable land.

“As a municipality, we can only control so much, such as our policies and regulations to make it easier.”

“The private sector cannot build affordable housing without financial support from all levels of government. We’re trying to set up an incentive framework to offer real financial incentives to developers, both non-market and market developers in exchange for affordable housing.” She conceded the challenge is finding the money to create incentives.

As for a lack of land, she calls for innovation and creativity. In the new year, they plan to do a high-level inventory of land that doesn’t meet typical lot size and frontage.

“How can we use smaller lots that haven’t typically been considered? We’re going to go to our development community and ask, ‘what can you do here, using unique construction techniques, different types of builds, modular-style; what can you do that we haven’t thought of before’?

“You have to consider building up rather than building out; higher density and heights, which is always a challenge in smaller, more rural municipalities. You always have to balance that with what the community is prepared for.”

She said that means people need to change their attitudes towards housing and not be so ‘not in my backyard.’

She agreed that dedicating a staff person to housing at a County level may also be key.

“We’re really lucky in Collingwood, our council has really taken the bull by the horns and said ‘we care about housing’. This is something we heard a lot about on the campaign trail. And they’ve really put that effort into creating the position and allocating a budget to housing.

“Every other municipality in Ontario can do it as well. We’re a small urban municipality but we’re taking a lot of initiative, that surprises some municipalities across the province. We have a dedicated staff person, an affordable housing task force, and affordable housing master plan, and we’ve had a budget allocation for the last three years.”

The future of the “iconic” Dorset bridge was discussed at County council Oct. 9 as Keystone Bridge Management Corp. provided its every two-year bridge and culvert inspection report.

Company managing director, Harold Kleywegt, said they inspected 41 structures, 17 bridges and 24 large culverts, valued at $121 million.

“We identified there’s approximately $8 million in capital needs between 2025 or 2030,” he said. “We’re recommending three culverts be replaced, and three bridges receive a comprehensive rehabilitation.”

Kleywegt said Paudash Lake, Dorset and West Guilford bridges need work, with two culverts on County Road 9, and a 503 timber culvert replacement top of the list.

He said a further four culverts (Kingscote Road, Wood Box, McGillivary Road and Inlet Bay) and Horseshoe Lake Bridge have less than 15 years left. He suggested Furnace Falls Bridge be done by 2060.

The good news, he said, is the depreciated value of inventory has improved 7.5 per cent since 2020 due to recent works.

The structures range from new to 117 years old, with 16 of them between 40-60 years old.

He said council should spend $1.4 million a year on bridges over the next 20 years, and about $420,000 a year over 20 years on culverts. He said that would be a “healthy and responsible level of investment…”

He said the immediate needs are substantially less; $663,000 over the next six years on bridges and $657,000 on culverts.

Director of public works, Sylvin Cloutier, added the County had invested considerably in bridges and culverts over the past four years, and if it continues to do so, “we’ll keep our structures in good health moving forward.”

CAO Gary Dyke said the one per cent draw from the tax base for infrastructure might have to increase to two per cent in 2025 for large capital structures.

Dorset bridge

Councilor Jennifer Dailloux asked for specifics on the Dorset bridge, commenting “it is very old, and it is hard to overestimate the heritage value of the bridge for the population of Dorset. It’s iconic.”

Kleywegt said the bridge “is old and tired.” He noted it is load posted, so has weight restrictions. He said the challenge is it is difficult to properly inspect, however there is significant visible corrosion. However, he said it is the corrosion they cannot see that is most concerning.

“There’s a significant risk when you continue to keep a structure such as that in service,” he said.

He said it requires more intense, regular, and thorough inspection. He said their lookover was “generous” but based on standing on the ground and clamouring over the bridge and looking over the edges.

As a result, they have to speculate on what they can’t see. To keep the heritage value, he said steel would have to be removed and replaced piece-by-piece. He said the concrete has wear and tear from snowmobiles and general traffic. The deck is at risk of potentially having a local failure, which he said was not dangerous to the public, but could result in closure of the bridge until it’s fixed. He said if nothing is done in the next 10 years, the deck could have a local failure.

However, he said it could be fixed and maintain its heritage value, though more expensive than a replacement.

The 152-feet long steel bridge underwent works in 2017.

Dailloux said Algonquin Highlands would ask the County to consider how to preserve the iconic bridge it shares with Muskoka.

Lori MacKay was one of the first patrons through the newly-opened Dorset branch of the Haliburton County Public Library Oct. 11.

The HCPL held a soft opening of the branch last Friday.

MacKay, from Dorset, said she loves libraries.

“It’s exciting that we have our branch back,” she said. The library was closed for about four years while Algonquin Highlands did a major retrofit of the Dorset Recreation Centre.

MacKay said she appreciated that HCPL supplied lockers to drop off and pick up books at Robinson’s General Store in the interim but, “we’re happy to have a place to come and browse and visit.”

HCPL CEO Andrea Brown told the library board at an Oct. 9 meeting that the new branch was having a soft opening, but would be holding a grand opening Oct. 25.

She said the real deal will feature a ribbon-cutting and cupcakes at 1 p.m.

Brown said the branch furniture had all been received and installed. The County IT team has set up staff and public workstations. The library’s WiFi, printer/copier, and the other pieces of technology required for the provision of branch services (VOIP phone, barcode scanner, receipt printer, etc) are all in place.

She added library staff prepared their circulating collections so items were on the shelves and ready for patrons to browse and borrow as of last Friday.

Regular weekly open hours in Dorset will be: Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Fridays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Brown also told the meeting Dysart et al staff will be removing the brickwork and paving the walkway that runs along the side and front of the Dysart branch. She said the replacement with concrete will make the pedestrian areas on the south side of the building significantly safer for everyone.

To facilitate this work, they will be temporarily closing the Dysart branch from Oct. 28-Nov. 1.

Discussing the 2025 budget, Brown said the board request is for the County to fund approximately $1.213,386, a 0.25 per cent increase from 2024, or about $3,300 more.

The next regular meeting of the HCPL will be Nov. 13, at 4 p.m. The public can view these meetings on YouTube.

Chelsea Cosh, manager of waste facilities, brought Minden Hills council up to date on work towards the Scotch Line transfer station design – as well as to ask for more money for 2025.

Speaking Oct. 10, Cosh noted council approved $1.4 million for phase one of the project in the 2024 budget. She is seeking another $710,000 for next year. She said staff need an additional $543,300 for construction costs, a little over $30,000 to cover HST, and $136,604 for contingency. She thinks the final price tag will be about $2.11 million.

Staff are looking to add 80-foot scales to accommodate larger vehicles and trailers, accessible wheelchair ramp, lighting, design specific document for concrete, site works, mechanical, thermal and moisture protection, an electrical site plan, and an additional one metre width for the bypass lane at the scale area.

Cosh was seeking budget pre-approval, saying the project “is critical and will be essential in managing the growing population in the township. With the growing population comes increased traffic, and demand on the Scotch Line landfill site.”

She added scales will allow for waste disposal fees to be applied more precisely and be more accurate with the cost of managing the material.” She expects more construction and demolition material in future.

Cosh further said they would be able to further landfill in the northwest portion of the site once the reconfiguration takes place at the site. She said the only other option is having waste hauled away, which is costlier.

Coun. Bob Sisson asked if there was any way to cut the number back. “Do we need two sets of scales… do we need 80-foot scales?” he asked. “You go to any gravel pit, and they have one set of scales, and you go around again. We have to try to cut some money here.” He said they are already 50 per cent over budget and is worried about how much the project could blow out.

Director of public works, Mike Timmins, said they are recommending 80-foot scales as tractor trailers are 53 feet long, which is what their haulers use. “The last thing we want to do is undersize this facility.”

As for two sets of scales, Timmins said during peak days of 500 vehicles-a-day in summer, he anticipates long waits with just one.

CAO Cynthia Fletcher told Sisson she asked similar questions, however, “we’re building for growth in the future. This is a very important project for Minden Hills.”

Coun. Tammy McKelvey was struggling with pre-approval in October, faced with unanswered money questions and not having an overall look at the township’s finances. But Coun. Pam Sayne was okay with going over budget, saying it would contribute to the longevity of the site. Coun. Ivan Ingram asked why they could not just put it out to tender now, without pre-approving $710,000.

Cosh said it would appear they were fishing for quotes and that could get them into trouble. She said they are doing their best to keep the budget in-line but would not know an actual cost until they put it out to tender.

Fletcher said council can put a stop to the project, or put it out to tender to see what the actual price might be.

Mayor Bob Carter said they were not buying anything today, simply pushing the project ahead to get a tender. If they don’t like the price, they can then make a decision about whether to go ahead or not.

“The fact of the matter is our present situation is not something that’s sustainable. We’re building here for the next couple of decades at least. It’s a responsible thing to do for the municipality.”

Council approved the request.