In a split 4-3 decision, town council agreed at its meeting on June 10 to donate two former town lots on 48 Avenue and 52 Street to Habitat For Humanity Southern Alberta. Coun.
In a split 4-3 decision, town council agreed at its meeting on June 10 to donate two former town lots on 48 Avenue and 52 Street to Habitat For Humanity Southern Alberta.
Coun. Wade Bearchell said while he was in favour of a future Habitat For Humanity project at that location, he was against the town donating the land. He said the town had to protect taxpayers.
"This isn’t our money. This is taxpayers’ money and we shouldn’t donate it," he said, noting that he would be comfortable with giving the organization a discounted price for the land.
"I don’t think it’s fiscally responsible," Bearchell added.
Coun. Mary Jane Harper agreed with Bearchell. She said that during council’s last meeting with Habitat For Humanity Southern Alberta, the organization indicated it was in a good financial position and could pay a discounted price for town land. She added that the town would be rezoning and doing an environmental assessment in regard to the properties at its own cost. Harper explained that the property kitty-corner to the former town shop was a former UFA fuelling station, so an assessment of the land would be prudent to ensure that it isn’t contaminated.
Harper also said Accredited Supports to the Community may also, at some point in the future, want to purchase land for housing to support people coming out of the Michener Centre in Red Deer, in light of the provincial government’s plans to close that facility.
"I do not support giving this land away to one particular group," she said.
Other councillors, however, supported the donation.
"This is the best bang for the buck. This is probably the best we could do to provide affordable housing in the community," Harvey Walsh said. "It would be an excellent opportunity for Olds.
"When you think about it, most citizens I know would support this." He added that the money the town would forego in a land sale wouldn’t affect taxpayers all that much.
Harper responded by saying that while the money the town would forego in taxes wouldn’t be that significant to individual taxpayers in the larger scheme of things, taxpayers do pay attention to water and other utility costs, which are also rising. Unlike some other municipalities, Harper said, Olds doesn’t subsidize utility costs, so money derived from a land sale could go toward other town services.
Coun. Debbie Bennett-Dubak, however, sided with Walsh.
"As a community, we have to support all walks of life," she said.
Along with Walsh and Bennett-Dubak, Murray Ball and Mayor Judy Dahl supported the motion to donate the land to Habitat For Humanity Southern Alberta. Bearchell, Harper and Arvin Bull voted against the motion.
The land in question was a former site of a town equipment shop. In a 2010 facility study for the town, Sahuri and Partners Architecture indicated that when the land became surplus, the town could potentially use it as a park.
But when Habitat For Humanity Southern Alberta made a presentation to area municipal representatives at a Municipal Area Partnership meeting, HFHSA said that donating land in Olds for a future project would be the best option.
Leslie Tamagi, president of Habitat For Humanity Southern Alberta, said the organization could potentially build a duplex on the land in 2014, but that depends on several factors, including fundraising efforts in the next few months.
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