Shelley Walker is Queens County’s senior safety co-ordinator. (Rick Conrad)

Queens County could be getting a full-time seniors’ advocate by the end of the year.

At a recent regional council meeting, councillors voted to ask for a staff report on making the senior safety co-ordinator a full-time position with the Region of Queens.

Right now, that job is overseen by the non-profit Queens Care Society.

It is funded with a $25,000 grant from the Nova Scotia government, which is enough for three days a week. The society also receives $5,000 from the Region of Queens. The Queens District RCMP gives in-kind supports such as a cell phone and office space.

The society says it doesn’t have enough money to turn it into a full-time position. Shelley Walker is the current senior safety co-ordinator. There has been a part-time co-ordinator in the region since it was created more than 15 years ago.

The co-ordinator helps promote senior health, safety and independence, working with older residents to help them stay in their own homes. The co-ordinator helps with medical referrals, transportation, food insecurity and other concerns of seniors living on their own.

Representatives from the Queens Care Society appealed to councillors last week to make it a full-time position with the region.

Grant Webber, chairman of the society, told councillors that there’s great demand for the free service. But the current part-time position can help only about 7.5 per cent, or 250, of the 3,300 Queens County residents over 65.

He said other senior safety co-ordinators around the province are full time, supported by the province, municipalities or non-profit groups.

Webber asked that the region hire the co-ordinator on a full-time basis, covering benefits and expenses and providing office space.

“A part-time position is not enough to address the assistance and does not enable the co-ordinator to be proactive with education and check-in calls. All other co-ordinators in Nova Scotia are full time and either employed by the municipality or through foundations.

“We are hoping that the Region of Queens can also become the employer and provide the senior safety co-ordinator with the stability required to support seniors here in Queens County.”

Al Doucet, a member of the Queens Care Society, said Walker does a commendable job now for seniors in the region. He said she could do so much more as a full-time employee of the region.

“I’ve watched what Shelley does for this community,” he told councillors. “There’s all kinds of people that would do this, but I can tell you that Shelley does beyond what is needed.” 

Councillors seemed receptive to the idea of bringing the position under the municipality’s umbrella.

Mayor Darlene Norman said the part-time position is funded until the end of the year, but that there is some uncertainty around whether it would continue after that.

Norman said the details would have to be worked out.

“I believe it is necessary that there be more investigation to determine who such a staffer would report to, is there a requirement to do a job posting, … salary range, things such as cars, all those things we would have to know to responsibly vote on those things.”

District 3 Coun. Maddie Charlton said she wanted to make sure that councillors got a staff report in time to make a decision about the position before the end of the year.

“I want to make sure that that position is protected and it’s not a bunch of frantic, going around trying to figure out last-minute, so I think we need some clear timing.”

Norman made a motion for staff to report by council’s first meeting in October on the municipality taking over responsibility for the senior safety program.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

A rendering of the Queens Neighbourhood Co-operative Housing development planned for Liverpool. (QNCH)

An affordable housing development for Liverpool could break ground by this fall.

Queens Neighbourhood Co-operative Housing is planning a 26-unit development off Lawrence Street that will include one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units in two separate buildings.

It’s passive design, net zero-ready housing that will welcome tenants from all income groups.

The group was formed as a result of consultations by the Queens Care Society, which identified transportation and housing as vital for Queens County’s older population.

The Region of Queens sold the land to the group for $1 and rezoned the area. It also committed $203,000 toward the project. 

Initially, the group expected to start construction this spring. But now they hope to break ground later this year.

Earl Mielke, with Inclusive Homes Consulting, has been working with the Queens Neighbourhood Co-operative Housing board. He said Monday that there have been some delays in the initial work on design and preparation. 

But he said they’re at the final stages of the design, and are working now with a cost consultant, before they make funding requests to the province and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. CMHC requires groups to use a cost consultant because it wants a good idea of the final project cost.

“We hope to have our funding in place and a contractor hired, realistically late fall. Early fall, late fall, it all depends on how quickly the funders turn the funding over. And the availability of contracts is a big factor.

“Realistically, we really hope to get something started there by the end of this year.”

He said the group expects the whole project to be in the $6-$7-million range, though that could change as the project progresses.

“A lot of it will depend on the funders. But what we’re getting from the feds and the province, they’re really anxious to get some wins for affordable housing. The initial discussions we’ve had are very positive. We’re seen as one of the more shovel-ready on this scale. Things are going well.”

Mielke said rent for the units will be based on a mixed-income approach. Rents will be at or below the median market rate. 

He said that could mean the highest rent would be about $1,200 a month. But he cautioned that that could change depending on final construction costs.  

“A mix of incomes, the rents are all basically the same across the board. It’s just a matter of what types of rent supplement or income testing assistance will be available. And a lot of that is negotiated with the province.

“If you have a single pensioner on old age pension, they can’t afford $1,200 a month. So there will be units that will be designated for people on lesser incomes.”

Mielke says this is just the first of what the group hopes will be more affordable housing developments in other areas of Queens. 

“The intent is do this one, do it really well and then move into another neighbourhood. Initially, it was like 100 units over three years. Now it’s more like 100 units over three to five years. … We’re just looking at ways to … get more affordable housing.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Future site of proposed Co-op housing along Trestle Trail. Photo Ed Halverson

Region of Queens Council voted in favour of rezoning for 26 units of affordable housing in Liverpool.

In November, Council approved selling four adjoining lots between Lawrence and Amherst streets and Trestle Trail and the Queens Street Extension to Queens Neighbourhood Cooperative Housing Ltd, an offshoot of the Queens Care Society group for one dollar.

The area is currently zoned for Lower Density Residential and needs to be redesignated for Multiple Unit Residential to accommodate the two proposed buildings.

The municipality’s Planning Advisory Committee approved the proposed development at their June 19 meeting. Council approved the rezoning at Tuesday’s council meeting following a public hearing where no one spoke for or against the proposed development.

If the rezoning is upheld a public notice will be issued Aug 16 and the four parcels will be rezoned Multiple Unit Residential effective Aug 31.

Mayor Darlene Norman says council wants to do everything it can to get this project of the ground as everyone is aware of the desperate need for more housing.

“We’re a year and a half in already from the time we first started talking about council selling the land,” said Norman. “Because then you have to go through the public hearing of selling it for a dollar and all other such things, and then the deeds, and then the rezoning, so we’re going through this as quickly as we can.”

At an expected cost of $6 million, the development will require funding from several sources and the cooperation of different levels of governments and other agencies.

The municipality has already committed $203,000 in the 2023-24 budget for the group to complete predevelopment work on the site including project management and engineering fees, architectural drawings costs and a landscape architect as well as initial site clearing, road access excavation and digging test pits.

Norman says the Region will continue to assist the Queens Neighbourhood Cooperative Housing Ltd.

“It’s their project so we’re not sticking our nose in it, but everything they need, every help they want, they come see us,” said Norman.

The new development will focus on seniors but aims to be inclusive and diverse.

As a co-op, the units will be owned by members who will form a democratically elected board of directors to make decisions about maintenance or improvements of their units. In the co-op model, members will not build equity in their unit like a private homeowner. Instead that equity will be used to build more units and pay off the development over a longer mortgage period, between 40 and 50 years, keeping the units affordable.
As one occupant leaves, the next occupant won’t be faced with a massive increase in housing costs.

The board of the Queens Neighbourhood Cooperative Housing Ltd. is working to break ground on the new development in early spring of 2024.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com

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Future site of proposed Co-op housing along Trestle Trail. Photo Ed Halverson

Work has started to bring 26 units of affordable housing to Liverpool.

Queens Neighbourhood Cooperative Housing Ltd, an offshoot of the Queens Care Society has been busy making plans over the past year to realize the dream of building some of the first Co-op housing in Nova Scotia in 30 years.

Earl Mielke with Inclusive Homes Consulting is an independent consultant working with the group to help guide them along the way.

At an expected cost of $6 million Mielke says the development effort will require funding from several sources and the cooperation of different levels of governments and other agencies.

“It will take substantial government funding to make this work. Thankfully for us we also have the Region on board and the Region are being very generous with their contributions as well,” said Mielke. “So, it’s a true partnership, municipal, provincial and federal. That is the only way it can work.”

One of the directors on the cooperative board Lorna MacPherson says Queens MLA Kim Masland and the province have offered tremendous support for their effort and the Region of Queens is all in on trying to get the development off the ground.

In November, Region of Queens Council approved selling four adjoining lots between Lawrence and Amherst streets and Trestle Trail and the Queens Street Extension to the Co-op group for one dollar.

The municipality also just approved $203,000 in the 2023-24 budget for the group to complete predevelopment work on the site. That work will include project management and engineering fees, the cost for architectural drawings and a landscape architect as well as initial site clearing, road access excavation and test pits.

MacPherson says the need for more affordable housing is obvious and everyone involved with the Co-op housing development is driven to make it a reality as soon as possible.

“We’ve been working for probably 10 or 11 months,” said MacPherson. “We had to get incorporated as an organization. People have really rolled up their sleeves, and the success that we’ve had to date is just because we’ve had tremendous cooperation.”

The preliminary design calls for the construction of two buildings.

As a co-op, the units would be owned by members who would be empowered to make decisions about the upkeep or improvements of their units through a democratically elected board of directors.

Traditionally in a private home the owner would build equity which they would receive when they eventually sell the house. In the co-op model, members will not build equity in their unit.

Instead that equity will be used to leverage the construction of more units and to pay off the development over a longer mortgage period, between 40 and 50 years, keeping the units affordable.

As one occupant leaves, the next occupant won’t be faced with a massive increase in housing costs.

MacPherson says the co-op will focus on seniors but aims to be inclusive and diverse.

She expects the group will be breaking ground on the new development in early spring of 2024.

MacPherson says the Co-op group will be bringing the design plans to the South Shore Seniors Expo being held at the Liverpool Best Western from 1:00pm – 3:00pm on Thursday May 25 for anyone wishing to get a sneak peek.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com

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Photo Ed Halverson

Region of Queens council were on the road at the fire hall in Port Medway for their latest meeting.

Council gave the go ahead on a plan to build a “Lost at Sea Memorial” in Fort Point Park.

Councillors offered broad support for the project but took note of staff recommendations to avoid underground infrastructure on the site and to place the monument without disturbing existing trees.

Following a discussion, a motion will come before council at a future meeting to spend up to $12,000 for leadership training to provide better coordination between the five fire departments and the municipality.*

The training comes at the request of the five department chiefs and the money will be spent on a facilitator to provide the training.

A request has also been extended from the Emergencies Measures officer to neighbouring municipalities to enter into a mutual aid agreement in the event of severe storms or other large-scale emergencies.

Queens currently has an agreement in place with Shelburne and would like to include the municipalities in Lunenburg County as well.

The second quarter budget update shows deed transfers are already above budgeted expectations.

It appears land sales, particularly in the Molega Lake area are driving the increase.

The municipality is spending more for waste collection as fuel surcharges are averaging $8,000 – $10,000 more per month due to the high price at the pumps.

Mayor Darlene Norman added an item to the agenda requesting council permission to send a letter to the province voicing opposition to any expansion of fish farms in Queens.

Norman is concerned untreated fecal matter from farms will pollute the shallow bays in which they are located damaging the environment and negatively impacting other industries, most notably, the lobster fishery.

“I would sincerely hope that the provincial government recognizes and somehow finds a way to simply state, this province is not a suitable place, in our coastal bays, to be growing salmon”

Finally, council approved a motion that came from in-camera to sell four small parcels of land to the Queens Care Society around the Lawrence and Brunswick Street area of Liverpool.

The aim is to use the use the land to provide affordable, co-op housing.

The plan will come to a public hearing at the council meeting on November 22.

Council will hold their next meeting back in council chambers at 9:00am November 8.

* A previous version of the story indicated council had approved spending $12,000 for leadership training of the fire chiefs. The story has been edited to reflect a discussion was had and the motion will come before council at a future meeting.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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Photo Ed Halverson

A community group in Queens has secured $40,000 in provincial funding to work on increasing the supply of affordable housing for seniors.

The Queens Care Society received a grant from the province’s $916,000 Community Housing Capacity Building Program.

Society member Susan MacLeod says the group will use the money to hire an experienced coordinator who will have several responsibilities.

“Dealing with potential developers, working with other government levels that support housing, working with other funding agencies to acquire monies when the build is to be done,” said MacLeod.

The group is exploring options but MacLeod says they’re interested in developing an affordable co-op housing model where tenants can buy-in.

“Sometimes if you own your own home or you have a mortgage that is available for the home then you’re more apt to take a bit more interest in things.”

The Queens Care Society is a small group of 15 people operating out of the Queens County Home Support board room.

Covering all of Queens County, the members are supported by the senior safety officer and affiliations with other community organizations dealing with seniors care.

MacLeod says as a group they work to identify issues, find solutions, and get them up and running before leaving them to run independently.

She says Queens County Transit was an idea that came out of the society and now operates on its own.

MacLeod says the group will tackle the housing issue in the same way.

After hiring their project coordinator, MacLeod says their next steps will be to form a new non-profit housing side to their society.

They’re looking for board members with financial experience, landlords and developers who can find ways to build more seniors housing.

MacLeod says the group will also ask the municipal and provincial governments to make land available for an affordable housing build.

She says her group is drawing on all their collective skills and experience to make affordable seniors housing a reality in Queens.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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