According to CAO Marcia Wallace, the County is doing just fine budget-wise.

The CAO’s third-quarter report reflected a municipality with a lot on the go in the areas of recreation, tourism and infrastructure.

Town halls and tourism

The statistics show parks, town halls and museums saw high rental volumes. A mix of community and private events kept them busy. The Macaulay and Ameliasburgh museums hosted serveral weeks of youth camps over the summer.

Ms. Wallace noted that the Tourism Management Plan might need a rethink in light of levelling tourism post-pandemic. Attendance at Wellington Rotary Beach was down but revenues still supported the required staffing levels on weekends and statutory holidays. Parking compliance at seasonal “No Parking” zones was up — 42 per cent fewer tickets were handed out as of the end of August. The PEC Summer Pass Parking at Bakker Road and Huyck’s Point Road was almost always available when by-law officers visited.

Municipal staff processed 219 new applications for the Short-Term Accommodation program in the third quarter of 2023. The majority were renewals. There were 35 new applications outside the whole-home STA freeze instituted by Council.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

The municipality submitted an ambitious application to the federal Accelerator Housing Fund for over $14 million dollars to support local affordable housing initiatives led by the Prince Edward County Affordable Housing Corporation. The application was centred on the Queen Elizabeth School redevelopment, but also included several other housing projects across the spectrum of housing models. Examples include the long-term implementation of the Secondary Suite program. Financial incentives encourage homeowners to create additional dwelling units in their homes. The County is also proposing transitional and worker housing projects and multiple public-private partnerships for affordable, supportive, and subsidized housing.

Ms. Wallace there has yet to be a response to this application, but “in speaking with other municipalities in the east region, a number of them have received ‘No’ letters and we haven’t as of yet. That means we are still in the running, but it doesn’t mean we will be approved…we will be budgeting accordingly until we hear one way or the other.”

INFRASTRUCTURE

As part of Base31 development planning, a jointly funded addendum to the municipality’s Transportation Master Plan will begin at the end of this year. The updated Master Plan will inform the longer-term traffic and transit needs by taking into account population projections at the Base.

A provincial grant will fund the hire of a Transit Coordinator to engage with the community on service enhancements.

All preventative maintenance programs for rural roads, including surface treatment, micro surfacing, and crack sealing were completed in Q3. Grass cutting along County roadsides amounted to about 7,000 kilometres of sheared green stuff.

To read the report in its entirety, please visit princeedwardcounty.civicweb.net/…/ABB010A141594B5D930C0BF68D61EEBB-2 Q3 2023 CAO.pdf