Summerside council tackles a number of issues old and new
PROMISED HOUSING TASK FORCE IN
THE WORKS FOR SUMMERSIDE
SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. – Summerside Mayor Dan Kutcher is moving ahead with his election pledge to create a housing task force within his first 100 days in office.
Kutcher said the task force is on track to be launched by mid-March.
“I've met with staff and that process has begun with respect to setting out the objectives and the vision for that task force,” he said, in a recent update to city council.
He asked councillors who wished to participate or who know of any qualified community members who may be helpful, either as task force members or presenters, to contact him.
The object is to “come forward with solid recommendations for council to consider that will help increase housing supply and make housing more attainable across the entire spectrum.”
He added that once launched, the task force would have six months to do its work.
“Hopefully we will get to a point where we have a housing action plan that will feed into our official plan within the next number of months,” said Kutcher.
Prince Edward Island had one of the lowest vacancy rates in Canada in 2022 at just 0.8 per cent. That follows several years of a housing shortage that has dramatically increased the number of Islanders who are housing insecure.
SUMMERSIDE’S NEW COUNCIL TRIES ITS HAND AT SOLVING A CONTENTIOUS OLD ISSUE
SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. –
City councillors here are once again taking a shot at resolving the contentious issue of ditch infilling.
Summerside Mayor Dan Kutcher wants to put the subject to rest and is moving to establish an ad hoc committee tasked with making that happen.
Kutcher made the announcement at the Feb. 7 council meeting. He said the committee's official appointment will happen Feb. 21.
Deputy mayor Cory Snow and Coun. Justin Doiron will be the only two members of the committee.
They have been tasked with consulting the various stakeholders on the issue, including all other councillors, and developing three policy options for consideration.
A deadline of May 2 has been set for those recommendations to be brought forward. The public will then have a couple of weeks to provide input. Council will make a final decision at its May 15 meeting.
Ditch infilling is an issue that stems from promises made after the former Town of Summerside was amalgamated with the former communities of Wilmot, St. Eleanors and part of Sherbrooke in 1995.
There was a “handshake agreement,” of which there are no official records, between the mayors at the time. They agreed the smaller communities would receive the same level of service as the old town, including having their open ditches filled and replaced with piped stormwater systems.
The issue has become a political football, largely between councillors who represent the old smaller communities, who mostly have open ditches, and those from the old town, who do not.
The former still receive pressure from constituents who want their ditches filled, while some of the latter argue the cost of the project has become prohibitive and the money could be better spent elsewhere.
The latest estimates from the city put the cost of filling all the ditches left on the priority list at approximately $34 million.