Merritt (image credit - CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

MERRITT HOUSING PLAN

‘A once-in-a-lifetime situation’; Merritt working to utilize surplus government flood funding

Mar 6, 2024 | 5:30 PM

MERRITT B.C. — The City of Merritt is moving forward with a new housing initiative after an approved recommendation by the Committee of the Whole on Tuesday (March 5) night.

The housing market in Merritt was tight prior to the 2021 atmospheric river and flooding of the Coldwater River. In the two-plus years since, the city has been working to increase supply, and with $4 million at its disposal, it is in a unique position to do so.

“I guess if there is a silver lining in the whole flood situation, with the $4 million that we got and the sale of the trailers, we could be looking at between a $9- and $10-million evergreen housing fund that we can now use to help people get obtainable housing,” said Mayor Mike Goetz.

The funding is from the province, given to the city to create emergency housing for flood-affected residents. After providing emergency homes through 31 new trailers, the city has the surplus dollars sitting in an account, in need of a new project.

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“We don’t know what the best solution is for the city,” said CAO Cynthia White. “There are a lot of different models from housing authority-owned houses to being an investor in affordable housing development to being a granting stream. There are a lot of different options so we need to find the best option.”

At the end of 2025, the city-owned trailers will need to be sold, as per guidelines from the province.

“Take that money, return it back into this fund so it’s recurring as we go along,” said Goetz. “Twenty years from now, we will always have a project going on with this money that we received. This is a once-in-a-lifetime situation that we have been given and we need to make it work correctly for our community.”

Like most communities, Merritt has seen the median cost of a home rise since the COVID bubble of 2021. Local real estate agent Jared Thomas was happy to see the city starting down the road to increase stock.

“Has it recovered to a point where we are going to see prices that folks experienced before the pandemic? No. When we are talking about projects like this, or some of that lower tier or more affordable housing, it’s going to take a while to get there,” stated Thomas.

Goetz hopes the first piece of land utilized under the new program will be at Railyard Mall on a city-owned lot. Overall, time is of the essence for Merritt.

“We have to start seeing something before November of this year. If we don’t have something valid that the province can hang their hat on, the $4 million has to go back and wouldn’t we look like an awesome council if we returned $4 million to the government, saying, ‘Sorry, can’t use it?’ We will definitely have something bare bones by the next couple of months,” said Goetz.

The first step for Merritt is outlining the job description for a new city director in what is believed to be an incredibly tough job market for city planners.