After a great deal of discussion and plotting, a housing initiative action plan is now unfolding in Estevan and throughout southeast Saskatchewan.
"We're now into Phase 2," said Edie Spagrud, chief executive officer for the Saskatchewan Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Enterprise Region, on Jan. 5, pointing out that consultant Christina Canart has been contracted to begin the latest and most direct housing survey in the region in order to provide a positive template that can be used by potential housing developers.
The survey will reveal the housing types and models that are most wanted by the communities that are involved in the survey and the various options that might become available including affordable, lower-cost housing.
Spagrud was quick to point out that the mandate would not include subsidized housing. "That's the role for senior governments, not us," she said.
"From this needs survey, we'll be developing the action plan. The demographics will be gathered and that will identify the infrastructure capabilities of each of the communities involved ... what they have and what they'll need to put in place to accommodate a housing program," Spagrud said.
"That means identifying the land that will be available, what the services are into the property, what they have for water and sewer services and maintenance issues."
Spagrud said it is a well recognized fact that the federal and provincial governments are going to have to weigh in at some point to provide assistance for capital infrastructure needs and to hire planners to get some projects underway since many communities are already tapped out financially due to past and current demands on their services.
"All these things can't be addressed overnight, but they need to be addressed as soon as possible or the businesses and the people will be locating elsewhere. It's pretty evident now that the major barrier to further business growth around here is housing," the local enterprise region CEO said.
Canart comes to the project while working on a master's degree with a background in rural planning development. She is a Carlyle resident, so she knows the ins and outs of the rural community and the cities in the southeast sector. Her research record at the University of Regina is extensive and impressive, said Spagrud. "We're lucky to have her willing to come aboard. She has a one-year contract," Spagrud added.
The actual budget for the survey and action plan development has not been completed, but it was noted that the City of Estevan has already pledged $5,000 toward it and another eight towns and the City of Weyburn are expected to be contributing soon.
"The budget will cover her wages and travel costs," said Spagrud. "We'll kick-start the project by identifying the needs and the hope is that by forming an action committee with the co-ordinator, some housing leaders will emerge that will be knowledge-based and capable of carrying the projects through to a longer term. As the process evolves, we will conduct forums where developers will be able to make presentations and communities can discuss matters with them. By doing it regionally there could be savings," said Spagrud.
She said as way of an example that instead of three or four towns seeking separate apartment or other multi-dwelling projects with different designs, they might find a developer who would be interested in rolling out one or two designs that would suit all of them, thus saving time and costs. The forums should help the decision makers as they deal with developers in getting plans off the ground and into construction mode.
"It's a partnership all the way. We (SSEER) can facilitate and coach, but they will have to provide their leadership," Spagrud added.
"It won't be all about low cost housing either. There will be plans, I'm sure, that will include all pricing levels, but we're concentrating on the low-cost housing needs for now because that is the biggest demand."
Spagrud said that with a regional outlook to the housing dilemma, the project may very well attract a number of outside as well as local investors who will be willing to put various projects together.
"All I do know right now is that sitting still is not an option. We'll have a large number of people who are working right now, but planning retirement and many of them want to retire in Estevan or Weyburn or in the southeast. There are new people coming in daily who need places to live. It's changing constantly."
Spagrud said that the templates for the survey are being completed right now so that all communities that will be involved in the survey will be working from the same page ... using the same format. But each community will have different needs. With the template as the constant item, the community leaders as well as the developers will have a solid base from which to base their discussions and plans while finding out exactly what the needs are in each area.
"Nobody else in the province has taken a regional approach to the problem yet, but we are, so you're looking at a unique situation here in the southeast that should attract attention," Spagrud said.
"We want the communities who are interested in joining, to be there right at the start. We can't have them joining in later. We need more than criticism. I know it's tough for all the municipalities right now and tough on volunteers who have been maxed out because of the floods last year and the ongoing housing demands. But these people also know how important housing is for their community, so they've stepped up to the plate and we have at least 10 participant communities right now ... we're underway," Spagrud said.
The SSEER area covers nearly 29,000 square kilometres in southeast Saskatchewan. That area embraces two cities, 14 towns, 32 villages and 35 rural municipalities plus three First Nations and a total population in excess of 57,000.
