Part 2: Who Said What on PEC Affordable Housing Finances, Working Groups and Nile Street — 09/14/2026
The September 14 meeting of the Prince Edward County Affordable Housing Corporation Board covered issues affecting projects in Picton and Wellington, along with financial and organizational decisions that apply to the corporation countywide. Councillor Phil St-Jean, Picton Ward and Board Chair, guided the discussion as members questioned the corporation’s financial reporting, reorganized its working groups and approved steps needed to move the Nile Street property forward.
Countywide: Board Members Push for Clearer Financial Answers
The longest early discussion centred on the 2025 draft audited financial statements. Councillor John Hirsch, South Marysburgh Ward, questioned approximately $687,437 listed as due to the corporation and asked for a clearer explanation of what made up that growing amount. Another board member also asked about the repayment arrangements behind that figure and how unresolved financial items could affect future financing applications.
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Penny Morris, public board member, raised questions about a $36,000 loan and the value shown for tangible capital assets. Staff clarified that the $36,000 represented an unspent amount and said the CMHC loans had since been cleared up, although that was not reflected in the audit. Morris also flagged what she believed was an incorrect reference to Wellington Street instead of Nile Street in the financial documents and wanted the auditor to explain how the corporation’s properties were being valued.
St-Jean agreed that the auditor was the appropriate person to answer many of those questions and asked that the auditor attend the next meeting. Members were encouraged to submit questions in advance. After the financial discussion, the motion to receive the draft financial statements and finance update was carried.
Countywide: A New Way of Organizing the Housing Corporation
The board then turned to its internal structure. Hilary Spriggs, public board member, presented a proposal for four working groups, explaining that the structure was intended to cover the corporation’s broader responsibilities without requiring every group to tackle everything immediately. Some members questioned whether advocacy and policy work could stretch limited resources, while others argued that outreach and advocacy were connected to the corporation’s affordable housing mandate and its ability to find funding and community support.
The board ultimately voted to adopt the new structure and dissolve the existing governance, fundraising and Disraeli site working groups. The motion carried. The new structure created the Corporate Governance and Accounting, Building Development and Finance, Advocacy Outreach and Policy, and Community Fundraising and Communications working groups.
Members then volunteered for different roles. The final appointments placed Penny Morris, Hilary Spriggs and Councillor Brad Nieman on Corporate Governance and Accounting; Mark Guslits, Ted Elborn and Hilary Spriggs on Building Development and Finance; Ian Chodokoff, Penny Morris and Councillor John Hirsch on Advocacy, Outreach and Policy; and Ian Chodokoff, Councillor Sam Grosso and Councillor Kate MacNaughton on Community Fundraising and Communications. The appointments were put to a vote and carried.
Wellington: Nile Street Moves Through Final Administrative Steps
The most location-specific decision involved the Nile Street development. Staff told the board that three remaining items were needed to file the Record of Site Condition, including legal confirmation, required signatures and documentation from Development Services. Once those pieces were provided to the environmental consultants, staff said the Record of Site Condition could be filed and the site would be shovel-ready.
The board also dealt with the transfer of a portion of the property to the municipality. Bob Waldon read the formal resolution authorizing the transaction and allowing St-Jean and Councillor Brad Nieman, Board Vice-Chair, to execute the required documents. Morris and Hirsch moved and seconded the resolution, and the motion carried.
During clarification, a board member asked whether the transfer involved the portion closest to the green space that was not intended for development, and St-Jean confirmed that it did.
The board then moved into closed session to discuss negotiations involving capital fundraising and development of the Queen Elizabeth Picton site and Disraeli Street Picton site. Because the public transcript ends as closed session begins, it does not provide the discussion or outcome of those matters.
What This Means for the Locals
For Wellington residents, the Nile Street project continued moving through the legal and environmental steps required before development can advance. The September 14 votes did not approve construction itself, but they dealt with property transfer and documentation that staff described as necessary before the Record of Site Condition could be filed.
For Picton residents, the Queen Elizabeth and Disraeli Street projects remained active topics, although their development and fundraising negotiations were discussed behind closed doors at this meeting. No conclusions from that private discussion are contained in the supplied public transcript.
For residents across Prince Edward County, the broader change was inside the housing corporation itself. Board members pushed for clearer financial information and created four working groups covering accounting, development, advocacy and fundraising. Those decisions set out who will be responsible for different parts of the corporation’s work as its affordable housing projects continue to move forward.
Disclaimer: This article is based on a meeting with an approximate duration of 3:39:24. Due to the length of the meeting, our team was not able to independently review the full recording in its entirety. As a result, we relied on software-generated transcription, automated summarization, and automated recognition of speakers and participants, which may not be entirely accurate. All transcriptions, summaries, and related content are prepared by our team in good faith and on a reasonable best-efforts basis. The content is provided for general informational purposes only and is intended to support public understanding of the topics discussed. While reasonable efforts have been made to present the information accurately, automated processes may result in errors, omissions, or unintended misinterpretations. This article does not constitute an official, certified, or verbatim record of the meeting, and it should not be relied upon as such. Readers are encouraged to consult original source materials, official minutes, or recordings where available for confirmation or clarification. Questions, requests for clarification, or suggested corrections may be submitted to hello@pecconnect.ca for review and consideration.
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