As they continue to deal with the lack of affordable housing locally, representatives from the City of Estevan met with the provincial government last week to discuss the situation.
Mayor Roy Ludwig, city manager Jim Puffalt and officials from both Trimount Developments and Essex Developments were in Regina Feb. 12 for a meeting with Housing Minister June Draude and her staff. Trimount is the group behind the latest phase of the Dominion Heights subdivision and has land available in their plan for multi-family dwellings. They have been working with the City to see what grants are available to facilitate much-needed affordable housing units.
Ludwig said the meeting was the latest in a number of sit-downs with Draude as both sides attempt to increase the stock of affordable housing in the City.
The mayor said the meeting went well and Draude was responsive to their thoughts and concerns. Ludwig added she also instructed her staff to remove any impediments that might be slowing down development in Estevan.
Asked what those impediments are, Ludwig said one example is the need for developers to have a building permit already in place before the province would consider them for grants.
"It's a chicken and egg thing," Ludwig said. "The developers would rather have the assurance that the grant money is in place beforehand, and I am sure with the good developers we have in place, their word is their bond and I am sure they would be willing to sign that the building permit is coming in a reasonable timeframe and move forward that way."
Ludwig said having the developers in attendance at last week's meeting was a positive step as it allowed the province to hear directly from them about some of the barriers they face.
"I think it helped the ministry understand some of the situations we have down here. I think it was a win-win meeting, and hopefully coming out of that meeting, we will have a better rapport and the ministry will be more willing to work with our developers to make this happen."
Ludwig said the City will continue to work with the province as well as the developers. He added affordable housing is one of the City's focal points in 2013 and feels they are close to some tangible progress.
"Minister Draude said they still have some money available and I would like to think we would be at the forefront in getting those monies for our developers to move forward," he said.
