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Volume 57 No. 15
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Sentinel
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Northern
www.northernsentinel.com
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
1.34 INCLUDES TAX
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Affordable housing needed
Cameron Orr Kitimat’s new Comprehensive Housing Needs Assessment calls out an immediate need for 217 units of affordable rental or supportive housing units in Kitimat. That’s one of many bits of knowledge contained in the report, released on Mar. 23. The report is the result of the Kitimat Housing Committee, which was formed to identify and address housing needs in the community, according to the report’s executive summary. “The information provided in this document will help Kitimat move forward with a plan to address key community housing needs,” the report stated. Those needs includes the conclusion that affordability of housing in the community is “gradually eroding” for low-income renters. As well the housing stock available is “no longer suitable for the aging population.” Some rental properties that are available have fallen into disrepair, the report states, due to periods of high vacancy and high unemployment, a result of population loss and industrial plant closures. The report includes some suggestions, such as developing working relationships between industry and social housing agencies to develop “innovative ideas for social housing development projects,” and creating a housing strategy and action plan that would include other recommendations in the report. The complete report is available on the District of Kitimat’s website at kitimat.ca. According to Margaret Warcup, with the Kitimat Housing Committee, this report means that the community is well-positioned to benefit from potential grants to improve housing from the government. “We want, as a community, to have all the resources. We have very few subsidized housing in terms of supportive housing,” said Warcup. “Compared to other communities we’re really weak.” The committee was able to hire Terra Housing Consultants to prepare for the report with a $10,000 grant. See page 2
“We want, as a community, to have all the resources.”
Josh and Chad Silva put some colour on their paper cut-outs of the Easter Bunny. The two boys were among a packed crowd of families at the Tamitik Arena on April 1, participating in the Eggstravaganza Easter Egg Hunt. Cameron Orr
Revitalization talk for another day Cameron Orr Council will be considering tax exemption bylaws for downtown revitalization but opted to table discussion when it came up at the April 2 council meeting. The reason is that a notice of motion from Councillor Corinne Scott was worded much differently than the actual motion she submitted for discussion. To err on caution, councillors wanted time to consider the motion. As presented by Scott, her motion sought to have council look at establishing a revitalization tax exemption policy and bylaw to encourage community beautification. A municipality, she explained, can provide tax exemptions that could attract investment. “What this proposal would be is that
as an incentive to our community and business community that we encourage them to rejuvenate, renovate their businesses,” she said. The plan would call for partnering with the Northern Development Initiative Trust [NDIT] which has a Community Revitalization program in place. Through that program, a municipality would essentially have NDIT put forward the equivalent payment amount that would be exempted to a developer during the period of the exemption. So in short, the town would basically break even on their tax revenues even with an exemption. Councillor Mario Feldhoff moved that the motion by Scott be tabled until council could hear from the District of Kitimat administration. “In the past we’ve argued
vociferously not to put them in place for reasons of equity and I think I would prefer to move cautiously,” he said. He continued, “[There] may be very good reasons for moving ahead with this but I want to have the full advice from our staff.” Councillor Rob Goffinet sided with Feldhoff, noting that the motion’s wording was different from the one he was prepared to discuss. “I would, too, like to know the ramifications,” said Goffinet. Scott’s motion as written in council’s package read “That the District of Kitimat apply for Community Revitalization Grant money from NDIT that we could use for City Centre revitalization.” The tabling motion was successful with unanimous support from council in favour.
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