City to seek $1M in funding for 10 more units
The city will apply for an additional $1 million from the federal and provincial governments to help convert the vacant Fleming College trade school on Bonaccord St. into apartments for single moms and their kids.
The extra funding is meant to help add 10 extra apartments to the project, bringing the total number of apartments to 38.
The empty trade-school building was once known as the McRae campus.
Last year council promised to give $1.5 million in funding the city will receive for housing from the feds and the province to the project. Also, council voted to offer roughly $700,000 in waived municipal fees, during construction.
But at that time, the plan was for 28 apartments; now a new city staff report states there’s room to put 38 apartments in the McRae campus building.
Council voted Monday night to apply for an additional $1 million in federal-provincial funding, plus offer $292,000 more in waived municipal fees.
The conversion of the McRae campus is one of two housing projects about to take place on the property.
A new six-storey building will also be constructed on the large gravel parking lot of the McRae campus; it will have 81 apartments for seniors. The two buildings will be connected by a breezeway.
Peterborough Housing Corporation (PHC) - the city and county’s largest social housing provider - will operate the homes. The city is the sole shareholder of PHC.
The total cost of the project is around $39 million (federal and provincial grants will be available to help with construction, and financing is also available to the city).
The buildings are expected done in 2019.
Of the 81 seniors apartments, 50 will be staffed with personal support workers.
Of those 50 apartments, 20 will be reserved for elderly patients living at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) for lack of someplace else to go.
The idea is to provide a home for seniors who do not need the constant medical attention offered at a long-term care home but cannot live in a retirement home (where there are no supports at all).
2018 budget:
The city will be $85.6 million on 191 construction projects in 2018, plus an additional $270 million to carry out city services.
Council voted a final time on Monday to adopt its 2018 budget, following three evenings of deliberations at the end of November.
To citizens, it will mean a 2.85 per cent tax increase on your bill. For an average taxpayer with a house assessed at $243,800, it would add about $109 to the tax bill.
For that homeowner, the total tax bill would be about $3,939.
That’s an all-inclusive increase, meaning it includes the municipal taxes plus the education tax and sewer surcharge. The sewer surcharge helps the city look after sewers, and has been charged for years.