Grey County council is going to ask two provincial ministries for their help in its effort to purchase a piece of property from the local school board for an affordable housing project.
At its meeting on Oct. 13, in a unanimous recorded vote, county council passed a resolution to request the ministers of education and municipal affairs and housing intervene and assist with the county’s efforts in conjunction with the Municipality of Meaford to purchase land owned by the Bluewater District School Board.
The resolution came after CAO Kim Wingrove informed county council that the school board would not negotiate the sale of the property to the county and Meaford.
“They’re not interested in further negotiations at this time,” said Wingrove.
The CAO explained that the school board is following the regulations in place on the matter and is required to “obtain fair market value” for the property.
“Potentially, their hands are tied,” said Wingrove.
Following the CAO’s verbal report on the issue, Meaford Deputy Mayor Shirley Keaveney withdrew a resolution that - if passed - would have authorized county staff to proceed with negotiations with the school board for the property. Council had deferred Keaveney’s motion at its previous meeting to allow more research on the matter.
Meaford is seeking a partnership with the county to purchase the property, which is the former high school football/soccer field and running track, in order to jointly pursue an affordable housing project on the land. Meaford sought the county partnership after determining purchasing the land on its own would be too expensive.
Following Keaveney’s withdrawal of the resolution, other members of council pushed for the county to not drop the matter and to seek an audience with provincial representatives.
Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy said the possibility of publicly-owned land that could be used for a joint county/municipal affordable housing project being lost didn’t make sense considering the province’s push for more housing to be built.
“It seems to me there is one heck of a disconnect here,” said Boddy, who called on the county to ask the province to step in. “They’ve got to be able to intervene in a situation like this.”
Warden Brian Milne agreed.
“We need to lobby and advocate that this isn’t right,” he said.
Grey Highlands Mayor Paul McQueen said county council may have to take its case directly to the elected school board.
“We do have a school board that is elected to represent Grey and Bruce,” said McQueen. “Sometimes you can’t take 'no' for an answer. I think we need to push a little bit here.”
The comments prompted Meaford Mayor Ross Kentner to move a new motion calling on the two provincial ministries to get involved in the situation. Kentner said the province needs to be aware of the “roadblock” the county has encountered.
Kentner’s resolution passed unanimously.
In response to repeated requests for a comment, a school board spokesperson confirmed that the board is “following its process” on the matter.
