In a split decision, Mountain View County has passed second and third reading of a bylaw authorizing the municipality to lend $3 million to Mountain View Seniors' Housing (MVSH).
The move came during the Oct. 9 regularly scheduled council meeting, with Reeve Bruce Beattie and councillors Peggy Johnson, Dwayne Fulton, Greg Harris and Duncan Milne voting for and councillors Angela Aalbers and Al Kemmere voting against.
MVSH owns and operates seniors' housing facilities across the region, and is overseen by a board comprised of elected representatives from area municipalities, including Mountain View County.
MVSH made the funding request to the county in August, with CAO Sam Smalldon saying the money was needed to help refinance capital to “address our cash crunch and overdraft situation.”
The bylaw calls for the county to lend the authority the money over a 20-year period.
The source of the funds will be from reserves.
The bylaw also states that before signing the loan agreement, MVSH will “provide a certified motion to their board of directors authorizing the loan and confirming that the loan will be guaranteed through their right to requisition their member municipalities.”
During the Oct. 9 council meeting, councillors held a lengthy discussion on the matter.
Beattie, who is also the current chairman of MVSH, said the loan arrangement is the best option because it will cost less in interest than borrowing from a financial institution.
“This (option) saves significant amounts of money for seniors' housing,” said Beattie. “If we finance this through a bank it will cost us 59 per cent (the county’s share) of that increase for the interest.”
The county has $50 million in reserves, making the $3 million loan tenable, he said.
Coun. Al Kemmere said, in part, that, “One of my concerns is the fact that I don’t see accompanied with this a description of how seniors' housing is going to deal with things in the future so they don’t get in this situation again. I’m concerned that we may be doing this in the short term and may have to do it again.
“I’m concerned and not supportive of this at this time. I don’t believe it should only be Mountain View County that carries this. I believe all municipalities (on MVSH board) should carry their share of this request.”
Coun. Angela Aalbers said, in part, that, “Under the Municipal Government Act, commissions have the power to requisition for deficiencies. My question is, why (are) we not just doing this in the transparent way? We have mechanisms that allow for requisitions for deficiencies, so why are we not going that route?
“I’m disappointed that the majority of the board isn’t working within the way a commission should work, which is providing a service and requisitioning the deficit to pay for that service.”
She said that she supports Mountain View Seniors’ Housing.
“It’s a great organization and I think it provides an unbelievable service to our community,” she said.
Coun. Greg Harris said, in part, that, “I can support this because I think it is the right thing to do. I think we need to send the message that we will not allow Mountain View Seniors’ Housing to fail; we will not allow it to be de-valued to the point where a sale is the only alternative. This is the right thing to do for that organization.”
Coun. Peggy Johnson said, in part, “I want to make sure that we don’t end up here again.”
Councillors also passed a second related motion, that one calling for the county to borrow $3 million from the Alberta Capital Finance Authority.
According to that bylaw, those funds will be used for three county projects, $1.1 million for Acme Bridge project, $1.3 million for Bergen Road Bridge project, and $600,000 for base stabilization work.
In an interview following the votes on the two bylaws, Beattie expanded on his comments.
“I’m of two minds,” he said. “I’m not pleased that we need it because we should have done the proper requisition over the last couple, but I think the county has stepped forward and done the right thing and shown that we are supportive of seniors' housing and we will continue to support them.
“At that same time our partners (other municipalities) need to step and recognize their responsibilities as well. The county seems to be the one stepping up all the time and supporting seniors' housing.”
