Prince Rupert city council has laid out its terms of reference for committees aiming to address housing shortages in the community.
Coun. Joy Thorkelson came up with the terms of reference for each of the committees, which were presented on Monday night’s meeting.
While it was decided at the Feb. 10 meeting that councillors would provide staff with a list of people to invite to sit on either of the committees, however council decided against this.
Thorkelson suggested that Mayor Lee Brain sit on both committees, with councillors being split between the two groups, giving members of council the authority to appoint community members to each committee as work proceeds.
Thorkelson said by doing this, the city could ensure the process happens quickly.
“We should have three or four people on the committee that are going to be responsible for directing the committee work and then have some addition people that would like to have us get the surveys or talk to people,” she said.
Coun. Barry Cunningham supported the idea.
“This is going to have to be a community effort to get this off the ground. It’s a multifaceted problem and everyone has different concerns. I think by involving the whole council, we’ll have a really good cross section of it,” said Cunningham.
Mayor Brain and councillors Nelson Kinney, Blair Mirau and Thorkelson will make up the Housing Prioritization Committee, which will engage with all sectors of the community to identify the extent of housing needs and collect a list of suggestions from the public on some these needs may be met.
“We don’t know what the actual demand is for housing. Is it transient housing? Is it supportive housing? Is it low cost housing? Seniors housing? How many people need those kinds of housing? I see the city’s role as gathering that information,” Thorkelson said.
Sitting on the Housing Identification Committee is Brain and councillors Barry Cunningham, Wade Niesh and Gurvinder Randhawa, who will engage with the city planning department, social services, the Salvation Army and the public to identify rental units, temporary housing units and multiple-family housing units.
The identification group will also engage with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, B.C. Housing and M’akola to determine housings needs and supply, as well as meeting with Prince Rupert realtors, apartment owners and others to determine present rental availabilities and predicted growth in the private sector.
“We don’t know from the renter’s side, from the people who rent properties, what their issues are because not all the properties in town are rented,” Thorkelson said.
Each committee will present their findings in April.
