Councillors split on how best to support HFH

Town councillors were divided on how to best support Habitat For Humanity Southern Alberta (HFHSA) following a presentation the organization made to the policies and priorities committee meeting on Feb. 19.

The town has been in discussion with the group since a facility planning study in 2009 identified the town shop on 52 Avenue would become a surplus property at some point. Norm McInnis, the town’s chief administrative officer, suggested that the land on which the shop sits could potentially be donated to HFHSA for a potential project as a good way to increase housing options in the community.

He also suggested that a corporate challenge could be a good way of mobilizing community involvement in any project that the organization might undertake on that site.

"If we use that land for green space, we don’t … get the value for that land in taxation," he said.

Leslie Tamagi, president of HFHSA, said land acquisition is always the organization’s largest stumbling block to making projects a reality.

"Land is always our biggest barrier," she said.

Mayor Judy Dahl said she thought donating the land would be a good idea.

"It does have a huge social benefit at the end of the day. It seems to fit here," she said.

Coun. Harvey Walsh agreed.

"I think there’s opportunity here and we should pursue it," he said.

While Coun. Wade Bearchell said he supported the group and its objectives, he felt that donating land wasn’t the best way to proceed.

"There’s got to be better ways for municipalities to contribute," he said, noting that donating land to one project wasn’t really the best way to maximize any contribution the town might make.

The organization’s Mountain View affiliate is hoping to build in Olds in 2014.

Tamagi said HFHSA’s Calgary affiliate was approached in late 2011 by the Brooks, Mountain View County and Medicine Hat affiliates about merging into a southern Alberta group. While there still is a local chapter and local volunteers to build local projects, the Southern Alberta affiliate has taken on many of the administrative tasks the chapter must perform, such as filing tax returns. The merger took place Jan. 1, 2012.

"They were finding it difficult to do all the work involved in not just building homes and helping families, but they were independent charities so they had to file tax returns and deal with the (Canada Revenue Agency) and GST issues and mortgage documents, so … they approached us to see if they could merge with us and we would take on the administration function and they would continue on as volunteers in their own communities. When people volunteer, they want to volunteer to build a house and help a family, they don’t want to typically volunteer to file GST returns," she said.