“At this moment in time, I still see a pathway to 80 to 100 units being delivered sometime relatively early in the New Year, but it is a challenging pathway for sure, and the longer we go without certainty, the narrower that pathway becomes.”

The Jasper Recovery Coordination Centre is reporting that site servicing is nearing completion for future interim housing sites.

Michael Fark, the MOJ’s Director of Recovery, told council on Tuesday, December 3 that they have done as much servicing at the in-town sites as possible in absence of knowing what will actually be placed on the land.

“Once we actually further clarify with the Government of Alberta on what will be procured and what will be placed where, then we will have to do some additional servicing and connection work with those structures,” Fark said.

In October, the Alberta government committed $112 million toward interim housing for Jasper residents who lost their homes in the wildfire. The funding will go toward building 250 modular homes.

Jason Nixon, minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services, confirmed in the legislature on Nov. 28 that they were on track to create 250 new homes just after Christmas.

Coun. Scott Wilson asked Fark if the province would be able to make good on this promise.

“There’s quite a bit of vagueness to the interim housing,” Wilson said. “We should be transparent with our community that we don’t really know what’s coming, and if our residents have any opportunity in finding accommodation elsewhere, I think they should be doing that.”

Fark replied they were still in discussions with the province about what the built form would look like and the timeline of deployment, although 80 to 100 units were previously anticipated for January, with the rest coming later.

“At this moment in time, I still see a pathway to 80 to 100 units being delivered sometime relatively early in the New Year, but it is a challenging pathway for sure, and the longer we go without certainty, the narrower that pathway becomes,” he said.

Fark added they were meeting with federal and provincial partners later this week to further discuss the timeline for interim housing.

Interim housing will be located at the northeast end of town and on the southern end of town along Connaught Drive.

2B is not to be

A site called 2B just south of Highway 16 was also slated for interim housing, but an impact assessment has determined this site was unviable. Fark said they were working with Parks Canada to identify other sites.

Coun. Rico Damota noted there was some frustration in the community about the slow progress with interim housing and asked how many hectares were still available following the removal of site 2B.

According to Fark, this resulted in a loss of 3.5 hectares of land, leaving just more than four hectares on the available sites within town. If the province opted for higher density, there could be up to 80 units per hectare.

“We have strongly communicated with the Government of Alberta the need to achieve higher densities, and they are working with us, and we are having those ongoing conversations,” he said.

Damota said it’s urgent for provincial decision makers to know that Jasperites are concerned about their housing needs not being met.

“I’m hoping the province is listening to people in the community,” he said. “It’s important not to have restrictive solutions.”

Coun. Wendy Hall asked how residents could apply to get on the waitlist for interim housing. Fark replied they were still working with the province on a prioritization matrix that has not been finalized, and a housing application form was still on the municipality’s website.

“We know that the demand will exceed what we’re going to be able to supply with the interim housing program,” he added. “Essentially, once we know how many units we are getting and how soon we can anticipate them, then we will go through the prioritization matrix, and that is what will be used to determine who has the first opportunity for the interim housing.”

The Jasper Recovery Coordination Centre is hosting two Open Houses in December, a virtual open house on December 11 and an in-person session on December 14.

“We wanted to make sure prior to the holidays that people have the opportunity to have critical questions asked and stress alleviated,” Fark said.

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