Housing Enabling Water Systems Fund Joint Application by Brockville & Elizabethtown-Kitley

Brockville/New Dublin – Discussions have been ongoing in recent weeks between the City of Brockville and the Township of Elizabethtown-Kitley regarding the City providing water and wastewater services to the former Rows Corners Fairgrounds property located within the Township of Elizabethtown-Kitley, which is the subject of a workforce housing project proposed by Campus Habitations.

As a result of these efforts, the two Councils will soon consider a formal motion during their next regular meetings to support the submission of a joint application for funding from the provincial government’s Housing Enabling Water Systems (HEWS) Fund. The application is to improve the City’s water and wastewater assets, along with the extension of water and wastewater infrastructure in the northeast corner of the City, and beyond, to the former fairgrounds.

In a prepared statement, Mayor Brant Burrow said, “I am grateful for the open-minded reception I encountered when I approached Brockville’s Council to begin the conversation around servicing the proposed development at the Rows Corners. Everyone is very familiar with the housing challenges our entire region is facing, and the industrial job vacancies which persist as a result of that lack of inventory. We all recognized the opportunity we were faced with to make a positive impact on that front.”

Mayor Matt Wren, in his own prepared statement, added, “The Rows Corners workforce housing project presents a perfect opportunity for Brockville and Elizabethtown-Kitley to collaborate for the greater good of both communities. Our employers need workforce housing, and Elizabethtown Kitley is in a position to accommodate that very close to our industrial park. The proposed usage would fall within our current service agreement and in working together we can truly make a difference where our housing needs are concerned.”

While the mayors are pleased that their two municipalities have an opportunity to work together on such an important file, they also acknowledge there are still a few critical steps to get through before the pipes can go in the ground. The first step is for each Council to endorse the upcoming motion, something that is not expected to be problematic. Then, the formal grant application will need to be assembled and submitted to the province by the April 19, 2024 deadline.

The biggest unknown remains whether or not the grant application will be successful. “We are at the mercy of the province’s evaluation process. The project appears to tick the boxes for the intent of the grant stream and with the province recently announcing a significant expansion of that funding, it doesn’t seem to be only a ‘pipe dream’ to expect some success,” the duo quipped.