The sale of municipal properties to create affordable housing highlighted the recent Region of Queens council meeting.

Following a public hearing ahead of the meeting, council agreed to sell four parcels of land off Lawrence and Amherst Streets in Liverpool to the Queens Neighbourhood Cooperative Housing Ltd for one dollar.

Fair market value of the properties is estimated around $15,000, but council is permitted to dispose of properties to non-profit organizations for less if there is a community benefit.

Given the lack of affordable housing across the county, Mayor Darlene Norman says council was unanimous in their support of the sale.

“When they’ll break ground, that is uncertain. They’ll have to determine what exactly they want to build and then make a request to council because there may need to be some water/sewer work done in to site that land,” said Norman. “Council is excited about this.”

Council also voted to support the Queens County Track Society up to a quarter million dollars for the construction of new track facilities on the sports field adjacent to Liverpool Regional High School.

The project is eligible for 25 per cent of the cost from the Region’s Community Investment Fund. The final tally on the build is expected to be north of a million dollars, and it’s expected the track will pursue funding from the provincial and federal governments.

Norman says the municipal funds won’t be released from the reserve until the society can show they have raised all the money needed to complete construction. Council then moved into the discussion phase of the meeting.

After a couple of attempts, the committee working to realize the construction of a new pool in Queens now has terms of reference agreed upon by the majority of councillors.

The latest revision puts the committee members’ skills to work but doesn’t require municipal staff time.

The pool committee will also provide updates on their progress to council at regular intervals. Several policy items were also up for discussion. First, they reviewed a new policy to establish parameters around the selection, purchase, maintenance, and official removal of public art. Second, council confirmed their meeting schedule would remain the same as the past year. Lastly, an updated social media policy was presented and discussed.

All discussion items will return to council at future meetings to be voted upon before being adopted.

The next Region of Queens Council meeting will be in chambers Dec. 13 beginning at 9 a.m.

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