Part 1: Housing Decisions, Surplus Land Sale, and EOI Process – 05/11/2023
- PECConnect
- May 11, 2023
- 5 min read
The County councillors gathered at Shire Hall in Picton on Thursday, May 11, 2023, for a Committee of the Whole meeting focused mainly on housing-related decisions and one land matter that came back from closed session. Councillor Phil Prinzen (Bloomfield and Hallowell) chaired the meeting, with Mayor Steve Ferguson and most of council in attendance. Senior staff in the room included CAO Marcia Wallace, Clerk Catalina Blumenberg, and Director of Housing Charles Dowdall, along with housing staff.
Prinzen opened by welcoming the public and reminding everyone the meeting was live streamed and that motions made at Committee of the Whole are not final until the next regular council meeting. Council quickly confirmed the agenda, with the motion moved by Steve Ferguson and seconded by Councillor Bill Roberts (Sophiasburgh).
View the entire PEC Council meeting, or continue to speaker comments and councillor votes>
Before council moved into the main business, Councillor Phil St. Jean (Picton) asked to share a short announcement tied to the season. He highlighted that the Wellington Farmers Market was opening for the year at the Eddy Hotel on Saturday, with about 50 vendors, and that the Picton Farmers Market was also opening for the season on Sunday. Prinzen allowed the comment, framed it as a community update, and then moved the meeting back to formal items.
Queen Elizabeth School
The biggest discussion of the meeting centered on the former Queen Elizabeth School property and what could happen there if the County succeeds in buying it.
Council received a housing report and directed staff to issue an Expression of Interest (EOI) for services and development ideas for the site. A key part of the direction was that, if the purchase goes through, 2.0 acres would be reserved for the Prince Edward County Affordable Housing Corporation to develop affordable housing.
From there, the conversation turned into a practical walk through of how the County planned to sort through proposals and make decisions about what belongs on the site. Staff explained that the EOI process would ask proponents to show they can actually operate their services long term, including having reliable operating funding, rather than relying on the municipality to prop them up. The goal, as staff described it, was a development that supports a broader health and wellness theme for the community.
A recurring thread during questions was what a Tenant Selection Committee would do and what it would not do. Staff explained that the committee would review EOI submissions against criteria and recommend a tenant mix that makes sense for the site, without creating an imbalance where certain services crowd out what residents need. Staff also clarified that tenant selection for any affordable housing portion owned by the Affordable Housing Corporation would be handled by the corporation itself, not this municipal committee.
CAO Marcia Wallace stepped in to make sure the governance piece was clearly understood. She explained that this was a municipally run process. The municipality would be managing the land unless council later chose to break off parts of the site through sale, transfer, or long term lease arrangements. Her point was that council was keeping flexibility, because the EOI results would shape what partnerships and site layout might make sense.
Mayor Ferguson asked how much interest staff expected. Housing staff said inquiries were already in the high teens and suggested it could reach roughly 25 to 30 agencies wanting to submit, which reinforced why the County wanted to get the EOI out quickly.
Committee membership and the mayor’s role
The meeting also got into the details of who should sit on the Tenant Selection Committee. Councillor Roy Pennell (Ameliasburgh) raised the idea that the mayor should have a formal spot. Clerk Catalina Blumenberg clarified that because the Affordable Housing Corporation is arm’s length, the mayor is not automatically ex officio on that external body, so the committee terms would need to be amended if council wanted the mayor formally included.
Council voted to amend the recommendation so the mayor would be added as a fourth member, and then moved into nominations. In the end, council appointed Councillor Sam Branderhorst (Athol), Corey Engelsdorfer (Wellington), Kate MacNaughton (Picton), Janice Maynard (Ameliasburgh), and Mayor Steve Ferguson to the Tenant Selection Committee, and then approved the full motion as amended.
Homelessness resolution: pushing for provincial action
The next major item was a resolution brought forward by Ferguson, seeking council support on homelessness and calling for urgent provincial action. The resolution described homelessness as a social, economic, and health crisis, and asked the Province to commit to ending homelessness and to work with AMO and partners on a resourced action plan. Council carried the resolution.
In discussion, councillors underscored how visible and urgent the issue had become locally. Pennell supported the intent but commented that responsibility and funding pressures are shared across levels of government. Roberts pointed out the resolution mirrored AMO’s template and asked whether the County would also use AMO’s suggested communications tools. Wallace said not yet, but took direction to move ahead with a social media campaign tied to the message.
Land sale tied to Habitat for Humanity
Council then moved into closed session under the Municipal Act for two land-related items, and later reconvened in open session.
Back in open session, St. Jean introduced the motion arising from closed session. Council declared a portion of municipal land on Bowery Street and part of Delhi Park in Picton surplus, and approved its sale to Habitat for Humanity Prince Edward Hastings for $31,362.90.
Wallace provided context before the vote, describing it as an opportunity connected to the County’s expanding operational role in housing. She explained that while the Affordable Housing Corporation has focused on rental housing, staff had also been engaging partners like Habitat for Humanity around ownership-style projects, and that this particular site had been identified in the County’s inventory and prepared through internal work across departments.
Council carried the motion. Council then passed a motion to adjourn, and the meeting ended shortly after 2:20 p.m.
Key Takeaways
Residents should keep an eye on what comes out of the Queen Elizabeth School EOI, because council formally set up a process that could shape a major community site, including 2.0 acres reserved for affordable housing if the purchase is successful.
Council formally joined other municipalities in pressing the Province on homelessness, and staff were directed to support the message publicly through a social media campaign, which signals the issue is being treated as urgent and ongoing at the local level.
The County approved a concrete housing related land action by selling surplus municipal land in Picton to Habitat for Humanity for $31,362.90, which sets the stage for the next steps to be shared as paperwork is finalized and the project moves forward.
Disclaimer: This article is based on a meeting with an approximate duration of 1:27:34. 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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