Westlock County will pen a letter of support for the Town of Westlock in its bid to house the main offices of Homeland Housing, which are currently in Morinville.
At their Nov. 13 meeting councillors voted 7-0 to send the endorsement with the caveat that the two county reps on the board will vote independently on the relocation decision. The town asked for the recommendation letter at an Oct. 29 joint council meeting.
“At our joint council meeting I made it clear to mayor Ralph (Leriger) that as a county councillor I can support this, but as a Homeland Housing board member I would have to support what I felt was the best initiative for Homeland Housing,” said deputy reeve Brian Coleman, who along with Coun. Dennis Primeau represent the county on the 13-member board.
“I want that to be clear. As board members you have to look at what is best long term from a financial perspective. What is better for hiring staff? There are a whole bunch of other issues that have to be considered long term,” he added, noting Morinville will be one of a handful of communities making a pitch.
Homeland Housing formed Jan. 1, 2017 and is an amalgamation of the Sturgeon Foundation and Westlock Foundation and manages seniors housing facilities in the City of St. Albert, MD of Lesser Slave River, Sturgeon County, Town of Bon Accord, Town of Gibbons, Town of Legal, Town of Morinville, Town of Redwater, Town of Westlock, Village of Clyde and Westlock County.
Councillors Clem Fagnan and David Truckey represent the town, while the board chair isn’t a municipal councillor and is the only member at large, said Coleman.
Leriger said the town appreciates the support, although he’s unsure if they’ll be allowed to make an in-person presentation, or submit a written package. Homeland Housing counts 15-25 administrative staff who are spread across the region, Leriger noted.
“We welcome the support of the county. We let them know that we were going to aggressively go after this and make what we hope is an attractive offer to the board — whether it’s an existing building and lease, whether it’s a purchase and renovation, or a green-field site we think we can make it attractive,” said Leriger. “We think getting something like this would mean more jobs for our region. And we’re looking at some ideas for incentives for those employees to relocate to our community.”
