On Monday night, city council, by a narrow 5-4 vote, delayed a decision to further support the Building Hope campaign.
But officials behind the effort to build a new homeless shelter, supportive and affordable housing on Queen Street remain hopeful the city will once again step up with assistance.
“I guess it’s a good thing in that there’s still consideration for our requests,” said Glenn Wagner, moments after council opted to postpone making a decision on the matter until May 6.
On April 1, Wagner, the co-chair of the Building Hope campaign, made a pitch to city council, asking them to provide a grant of approximately $408,000 to cover the costs of development charges related to the long-planned project.
He also asked the city to waive the site securities associated with the development. This is essentially a bond or surety provided by the developer to ensure it meets all the requirements from the municipality related to drainage, sewage and other infrastructure elements.
On April 8, council committee agreed to the requests - subject to a meeting with County of Simcoe officials.
At the time, Coun. Ted Emond said he felt Building Hope officials misled the city when they indicated one of the conditions of up to $6.2 million in funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation was dependent on the city providing the grant to cover development charges.
He charged they “manipulated” the process and were not “forthright.”
He also alleged the campaign proponents promised the funder the city would cover the charges - something Wagner denied.
Because of the lack of clarity, Emond, Mayor Steve Clarke and Coun. Tim Lauer met with county officials last week.
After last night’s council meeting, Emond would not tell reporters what happened at that meeting. However, he said the meeting did not resolve “all the concerns.”
It was Emond who pushed for the postponement so that city officials could meet with county and Building Hope officials prior to making a final decision on the two requests.
“What we’ve heard over the last few days is … that further discussion with Building Hope, the City of Orillia and the County of Simcoe would help to clarify the project and its financing, so that when that information is available we can proceed on May 6 with confidence,” Emond said after Monday’s meeting.
Emond reiterated his support of the initiative.
He said he is a “strong supporter of solving the homeless problem. I understand the commitment that the Building Hope people have and the five years they’ve invested in the project and the ownership they have over it, but I have to make a decision based on what’s in the best interest of the taxpayers of this community,” said Emond.
The Ward 1 councillor noted the city has already provided $390,000 (in loan forgiveness).
Now, “they are asking for another $400,000. I want to ensure that as the project moves forward to completion that they won’t be seen continuing a repeat of this exercise,” he said, referring to requests for further support.
“I want to have confidence that the project is in place and ready to go so that’s all I’m looking for,” said Emond.
Wagner said he’s happy to meet and talk about the issues, but stressed he and his team have been in communication with the city and the county for several years as this project has inched forward.
“I’m not clear on what would prompt them to postpone at this time,” said Wagner. “I don’t know what information we haven’t supplied … (but) if we can have a meeting with the city and county and it clarifies things? Fine. We’re happy with that.”
Emond also raised the issue of potential funding from the county for the Building Hope project.
To date, the county has provided $510,000 to the capital project, which has an overall price tag of about $14 million. The county also provides annual operational funding for The Lighthouse Shelter and Soup Kitchen.
Emond noted the county “chipped in capital money for the Busby Centre” homeless shelter in Barrie.
“Why would they not be a potential funder of this project?” he asked, noting the discussion with the county will “cover the full spectrum” of issues.
Emond, who publicly apologized for his comments last week, saying he had not intended to offend anyone, stressed he has no intention of derailing the project.
He said he doesn’t “want Building Hope to lose momentum ... or to get the wrong message that we are not in support of this,” said Emond.
“If we can all just get to the table, we will have productive discussion and have a direction on May 6 we can feel comfortable with.”
