It’s fall colour viewing season at Sir Sam’s Ski/Ride. Make your way to the top of the 60 ft. lookout tower atop of the hill for uninterrupted views of Eagle and Moose lakes, as well as 3,000 hectares of Haliburton Highlands forest.

The observation tower is open Wednesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Oct. 13.

Looking to partake in another fall tradition in the Highlands? Abbey Gardens is hosting its annual fall festival Oct. 4, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The family-friendly event features Harvest-themed games, inflatable combine combo, scavenger hunt, cookie decorating and more.

Also take a wagon ride to the pumpkin patch and pick one out to take home. Tickets are $17 per participating child, with accompanying grown-ups free.

Also running Oct. 4 is fall fest at Walkabout Farm in Minden. Located at 1105 Spring Valley Rd., this by-donation event includes pumpkin races, buried treasure in a sand mountain, horse and pumpkin painting, hiking, a pony obstacle course and more. It’s on from noon to 4 p.m

Key Habitat for Humanity and Places for People (P4P) figureheads say it will likely be years, rather than months, before a planned 35-unit affordable housing co-build is complete on Peninsula Road in Haliburton.

The two entities held an information session at the Haliburton Legion Sept. 18, confirming the non-profits will partner on the condo development. It will bring much-needed affordable housing to the community, with 20 units earmarked for Habitat’s home ownership model and 15 to become P4P rentals. There will also be a commercial component.

Habitat for Humanity Peterborough and Kawartha Region CEO, Susan Zambonin, said this will be her organization’s first venture into Haliburton County.

For the past couple of years, she’s been actively searching for an appropriate location to stage a build. Discussions have taken place with Algonquin Highlands township over land on Hwy. 118, but the opportunity in Haliburton village came about because of Habitat’s recently established relationship with P4P.

The land on Peninsula Road, fronting County Road 21, was long owned by County-based developer Paul Wilson. Through his company Harburn Holdings, he had hoped to bring multiple condo developments to the site, which was split into four lots. When the project was before Dysart et al council in 2022, he agreed to donate one lot to P4P to stage a future affordable housing build.

Zambonin confirmed last week that Habitat paid $1.2 million for the lot, with Wilson donating $500,000 of that to P4P. Because the developer, following an Ontario Land Tribunal hearing, agreed to ditch plans to bring more condos to the land overlooking Grass Lake, in favour of three single-family homes, he told The Highlander he could no longer afford to give his one condo-ready lot away.

So, Habitat stepped in. Zambonin said her organization will cover the full cost of construction and then sell 15 lots to P4P. Fay Martin, P4P vice president, said this will almost double the group’s existing inventory of 20 rental units.

While she was unsure how much this will cost Habitat, Zambonin said the units will all be one and two-bedroom and will “likely” be priced under $400,000. Ideally, she’d like to break ground at the site next year, though warned it could be years before the project is complete.

“I hope we would be able to start sometime in 2026 – we need certain studies, consultants to prepare reports. Stormwater management is always a big one,” Zambonin said. “It’s the kind of stuff that can’t be done at the same time, it has to be done consecutively, so it takes time.”

She confirmed the property will be on a private well, though will tap into the municipal sewage system.

How Habitat works

Zambonin confirmed the units would be made available to County residents and are designed as a “way in” to home ownership.

“These will be entry-level because we really want them to be affordable,” she said.

Affordable, however, does not mean giving away – Zambonin estimates people will need a household income of around $90,000 per year to qualify.

The process begins with an expression of interest. If it looks like the candidate can afford a unit, they are invited to fill out a thorough application. Zambonin said people have to secure a mortgage through an eligible credit union and then Habitat helps out with a second mortgage.

Through Habitat’s model, people never pay more than 30 per cent of their income towards housing costs – which includes insurance, condo fees and property taxes.

“We’ll be hosting homeowner workshops in the future to go over how everything works, but people can start thinking about this, planning for this now, that way they’re really prepared,” Zambonin said.

Anyone who becomes a Habitat homeowner is required to complete 500 volunteer hours with approved partners in the community – something Martin said will give many struggling non-profits a boost.

Habitat recently completed a 41-unit development in Peterborough, which Zambonin says was built at 66 per cent of market cost – largely due to construction firms and other companies offering help and materials at a reduced rate. She hopes to tap into County-based companies to assist with this build. Thus far, Emmerson Lumber and Haliburton Timber Mart have committed support.

“We know how to build this because we’ve done it, but we’ve done it in Peterborough using Peterborough people. We don’t want that here. We want Haliburton County people, but we don’t know all of them. So, you guys need to tell us if you’re interested and who we need to talk to,” Zambonin said.

The Haliburton County Development Corporation (HCDC) is lending a hand, connecting different stakeholders and will be kicking in funds down the road.

“We’ve been working with Habitat for several years trying to get them to come to Haliburton. We’re here to help in any way we can,” said HCDC executive director Patti Tallman.

Speaking at last week’s session, Tallman said the lack of available affordable housing has long hindered the County economy and led to labour shortages in the skilled trades, healthcare and municipal government.

Wilson follows through

After claiming several years ago that he wanted to see affordable housing built on the Peninsula Road property, Wilson said he was happy to work with Habitat and P4P to bring that goal to fruition.

“The whole idea, from day one, was to support affordable housing. I made the initial commitment to P4P… and Habitat is counting on P4P to pay for its share, so I’m happy to make this contribution. I think this is a project that will greatly benefit our community,” Wilson said

He further claimed that, without his donation, the project likely would not have gone ahead. Zambonin confirmed Habitat “couldn’t do it on our own” and was grateful for Wilson’s support.

The money will be used to help P4P purchase the 15 units once the project is wrapped, with Martin saying the nonprofit will fundraise for the remaining sum – likely millions of dollars. She said this could be the perfect opportunity to bring back the community bond model the organization utilized in 2023, raising $850,000 to pay off several loans.

“There’s not a month goes by without someone asking us about community bonds, so I’d say we’ve got to do them again,” Martin said.

The Haliburton Highlands Water Trails in Algonquin Highlands, the Haliburton School of Art + Design in Dysart et al, Central Food Network in Highlands East, and The Riverwalk in Minden Hills were touted as examples of how communities and councils have worked well together in the past – during the first ‘Voices and Votes’ talk Sept. 16 in Haliburton.

More than 90 people, including current and former councillors, and municipal staff, as well as residents “curious about how things work,” attended the session at the Haliburton Legion, according to host, Jessica Slade, of Civics with Slade, and the Haliburton Highlands Healthy Democracy Project.

“Tonight is about putting us all on the same page, creating shared conversation so we all understand how government works, and community works with it, to make us stronger,” she said.

Slade founded Civics with Slade just before the last provincial and federal elections, “to make politics more accessible, especially for youth and women in rural communities.”

In the first month of operation, she said they received 90,000 views, signaling gaps in the way people talk about democracy, and engage in the process.

She outlined how local government works, why it matters in the Highlands, positions up for election in 2026, and how the local community can play a part.

She noted voter turn out in the Ontario 2022 municipal election was the lowest in history – with 33 per cent of eligible voters casting a ballot, or just one in three. “That is a huge drop and a trend we really need to talk about.” She further noted the rise in acclamations, where there is only one candidate, so no vote. In 2022, 32 full Ontario councils were acclaimed and 553 positions uncontested.

She said the healthy democracy project isn’t just about encouraging people to run for council, but also “strengthening civic participation in all of its forms. We want to support local leadership, celebrate successful community collaborations, and give residents the tools they need to shape the future of our County, building on the great work that’s already been (accomplished).”

Organizers used the app, Menti.com to allow audience members to answer questions during the presentation, providing instant feedback to Slade.

For example, one question was “have you ever considered running for local government?” with 19 per cent saying ‘yes’, 38 per cent ‘no’ and 26 per cent ‘maybe’.

Asked what might move that needle, common responses were the need for mentorship or encouragement from others, better pay, and requiring less money to run a campaign.

Some of the other information that came out was that the majority of the audience did not sit on a board of directors or committee but volunteered with a local organization.

Heather Reid of the Haliburton County Development Corporation, working with the project, presented the four success stories.

One example was the Haliburton Highlands Water Trails. Reid said in 2000, citizens voiced concerns about the overuse of the Frost Centre area to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Algonquin Highlands council. The municipality got a land use permit, and grant, from the MNR, with an agreement for the township to manage a registration system for backcountry camping throughout the area, creating “one of the crown jewels of our community,” Reid said. They went on to oversee Poker Lake as well. The impact on the environment is now closely monitored.

“This demonstrates that what first appears as a problem can turn into an incredible opportunity and it really is a way that communities can bring ideas to the council table and collaborate and stretch that regular mode of operation box and make things happen that have a huge legacy for our community,” Reid said.

Slade challenged people to get involved. “Attend a meeting, join a committee, contact your councillors, share your input.”

The second talk will feature former MPs Barry Devolin (Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock) and Maryam Monsef (Peterborough-Kawartha) discussing why people should get involved by running for office, supporting a political campaign, or being an informed community member. It will take place Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Lloyd Watson Community Centre in Wilberforce.

Haliburton Highlands OPP Const. Joel Imbeau shared a personal story at this year’s Take Back the Night event in Minden Sept. 18.

He said that when he was a teenager, his older sister was sexually assaulted.

“Not only did I have the saddened opportunity to live that through my sister’s experience, but also as a brother, and seeing my parents suffer. And, seeing the level of depression she went through for years, and the fact we had to slowly try to develop and rebuild our house and make it somewhat of a suitable living situation given my sister’s trauma,” Imbeau said.

He added, “experiencing that firsthand, I dedicated and devoted my life at that point to get into a position of authority where I could, hopefully, lock some of these people up and make sure that this doesn’t continue.

“We can end this situation once and for all. It is going to be a struggle, but we need everyone on board to help fight it. When it comes to being an advocate against intimate partner violence, I have no time for this type of violence; none of us do at our office; we take it extremely seriously and so does the province.”

Imbeau noted he has a “wonderful” working relationship with the YWCA Peterborough Haliburton, and mental health providers in the community, to help people recover, and “try to bear their traumatic incidents.”

Nycole Duncan, the YWCA’s women’s centre and HERS manager, told the audience they have two spaces in the County for women fleeing domestic violence.

Addressing the crowd that would go on to stroll the Minder Riverwalk, she said, “there’s strength in numbers. It’s only through community strength that we can find solutions to community problems. The first step is showing up with compassion and excitement like you all have tonight.”

Duncan said Haliburton County and Minden Hills had declared intimate partner violence an epidemic. Statistically she said the highest number of incidents occur in northern rural centres, “where we are … so this is us.”