A good portion of city council’s attention at Tuesday’s (Sept. 2) meeting was devoted to housing and homelessness initiatives and funding.

Which meant Danielle Neilson, Housing Stability Services Manager, fielded a significant number of questions from the mayor and council.

She authored the St. Thomas-Elgin 10 Year Housing and Homelessness Plan: 2024 Progress Report, which sees city staff and community partners “work together on highly collaborative initiatives that support the community’s aim of functionally ending homelessness in the coming years.”

We briefly touched on this report last week regarding the city’s emergency shelter, The INN.

Coun. Gary Clarke zeroed in on the need for seniors’ housing, with much of the focus to date directed toward supportive housing.

“Will we be focusing a little bit more on seniors housing in the next 10 years?” wondered Clarke.

Neilson responded, “There has been a significant focus currently, and will continue for the foreseeable future, on supportive, affordable housing, because it supports the goal of a functional end to homelessness. And we know that the folks, especially the folks experiencing chronic homelessness, require that extra level of support in order to anchor into housing stability.

“Once we have outpaced homelessness on our supportive housing work, the focus most definitely becomes affordable housing because we know that is also a significant shortage in our community.

“Seniors are, and remain, a priority, and so there will be focused attention on what we’re doing related to seniors’ affordable housing.”

Coun. Steve Peters redirected the spotlight somewhat in relation to Neilson’s efforts to pursue new community partners.

“I think food has to be a focus. You look at the food bank (in St. Thomas), they served 19,000 individuals in 2023, 25,000 served in 2024, which was a 27 per cent increase.

“And they’re talking 30,000 for this year. So, is there a way to start to help food banks all across Elgin county, to help support those who are making sure people are nourished?”

“I appreciate your focus on food,” replied Neilson. “And your comments about the direct connection between food stability and housing stability.

“At a minimum, I’ve made a note to myself that it should be given significant consideration when we start to embark on our next 10-year plan for housing and homelessness-related supports.

“I think it would be worth our time to engage in conversations about how we strengthen our relationship with our local food bank and food providers who are also supporting people experiencing food insecurity at this time.

“New partnerships are always explored and welcomed. We’re looking to break down silos between the housing and homelessness sector, and health and the housing and homelessness sector and justice.

“There is room there for food.

“And the work we’re doing with private developers is also an example of how we’re trying to expand beyond the traditional services that might engage or partner in this type of work.”

Coun. Clarke picked up on partnerships with private developers and possible incentives.

“Probably the two biggest incentives are land and city-owned property, and I was wondering if someone on staff could let me know whether or not we have an inventory for Danielle and staff to be working with in terms of surplus land or surplus buildings?”

That question was fielded by City Manager Lisa Higgs, who advised at the Sept. 15 council meeting that there will be an updated policy dealing with strategic land acquisition and “a matrix for evaluating potential housing sites of city-owned lands that can meet the goals of the 10-year plan.”

While housing and homelessness played a significant role in this past Tuesday’s council meeting, transit carries a not insignificant weight in Monday’s (Sept. 8) meeting.

In particular, the interurban service linking St. Thomas with London and Dorchester.

Last spring, the city entered into a partnership with Middlesex County Connect to pilot a regular inter-community transit service linking the three communities.

This pilot was part of a broader regional initiative aimed at improving connectivity across Southwestern Ontario, and the three current routes are shown in the map below.

The initial pilot phase funding from the province’s Community Transportation Grant Program had expired; however, Middlesex County Connect was one of only four municipalities across Ontario approved this year for funding through the new Ontario Transit Investment Fund (OTIF).

To be eligible for this funding, Middlesex County, as the lead applicant, included the integration of the inter-community service operated by the Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc, connecting Sarnia with Strathroy, Mt. Brydges, Komoka and London.

As a result, Middlesex County has secured an additional $3.4 million in grant funding to support five more years of inter-community transit service.

However, this requires council’s approval to continue participating in and supporting the inter-community transit service.

The motion is before council on Monday.

Middlesex County Connect has advised that the St. Thomas Route 3 “supports one of the highest-performing routes within the network. Ridership on Route 3 continues to show encouraging signs of sustained use, with an annual growth rate of approximately 1.0%.

“Notably, trips between St. Thomas and London represent approximately 95% of Route 3 ridership, highlighting the corridor’s importance.”

There is a catch, however.

The provincial funding is based on support for the entire Middlesex County Connect system, not individual routes. The approved funding covers 50% of the total operating expenditures across all four routes.

The report from traffic technologist Rose Patrick to council stresses, “The proposed equal-share model ensures that no single municipality is solely responsible for the cost of a specific route. Instead, the system is approached holistically, with costs distributed equally among the five partner municipalities: Middlesex County, City of London, City of St. Thomas, Oxford County, and Lambton County.”

The city is being asked to contribute almost $423,000 over the next four years as its share of operating costs.

And, one more catch.

As part of the OTIF application, route optimizations are proposed to improve regional access and operational efficiency, such as:

 Removal of low-ridership stops

 Adjustment of service hours (the St. Thomas route would gain one hour of service per day, but no explanation of what this would entail), and the addition of Route 4

 Minor stop relocations to improve efficiency

 Introduction of a fare-by-distance model to enhance the system’s revenue-to-cost ratio

In other words, an end to the flat $5 fare that is now in place.

Patrick’s report concludes, “This cost-shared, provincially subsidized model offers significant value for the City of St. Thomas when compared to the estimated cost of $275,000 – $325,000 annually to develop and operate a similar inter-community service independently without provincial funding support.

“By connecting St. Thomas directly to London and the broader region, this program addresses critical transit gaps identified in the city’s 2020 Transit Strategic Plan.

“The City of St. Thomas’s funding contribution toward the Middlesex County Connect inter-community transit service would be funded through the annual tax levy and incorporated into the transit operating budget for each year.”

Switching gears to transit operations within the city, at Monday’s meeting, council will be asked to extend the current contract with Voyago by three years as the operator of transit services for St. Thomas.

The existing five-year contract expires at the end of this year, but includes provisions for a potential three-year extension, followed by an additional two-year extension, both contingent upon mutual agreement between the city and Voyago.

The firm is contracted to provide the following:

 Daily operation of the city’s conventional, parallel, and demand-responsive transit (DRT) services

 Contracted maintenance and fleet capacity coverage for transit vehicles

 Rental of the main floor and garage located at 614 Talbot Street.

The contract extension would run through the end of 2028 and includes the option to electrify bus operations.

According to the report to council from Matthew Vriens, Manager of Transportation,

“Pricing for labour and equipment is to be adjusted in accordance with the annual CPI (Consumer Price Index). The projected total contract value over the three-year extended term is estimated at $6.2 million.”

It is interesting to note that Kevin Jones of Paradigm Transportation Solutions attended the Nov. 4 meeting of city council last year to provide an update on the status of the Transportation Master Plan refresh project.

His report offered a sweeping overview of the current transportation picture in St. Thomas and what the road ahead should look like.

He recommended an aggressive shift in the operation of Railway City Transit that would see a six-fold increase in annual service hours involving 26 buses in service operating 17 hours every weekday.

These figures are based on a city population of 79,500, a couple of decades distant.

The Paradigm report concluded the city should adopt this aggressive shift to sustainable travel modes because it “aligns with input from the public for improved transit.”

In addition, future land use plans are transit-supportive, and by adopting this aggressive shift it could lead to a reduction in road widening needs in the downtown core and other constrained areas.

The aggressive shift would lead to a significant reduction in annual auto travel and “reduced emissions.”

There does not appear to be any indication of the beginning of “an aggressive shift in the operation of Railway City Transit” apparent in the Voyago contract extension, particularly with the possibility of the PowerCo EV battery gigafactory beginning operations before the contract extension expires.

One year ago this past Monday, Ryan Davies drowned when a canoe tipped over in Lake Margaret. Since then, his mother, Linda King, along with the Elgin County Drowning Prevention Coalition, has spearheaded a couple of water safety initiatives, including the Central Elgin Lifejacket Lending Program launched last month.

An innovative financial opportunity was launched this past week, and we’ll detail this further next Saturday in conversation with Linda King and the participating organization.

The St. Thomas Terry Fox Run will take place next Sunday (Sept. 14) at 1Password Park, and feature two, five and 10-kilometre walk/run options.

You can register online at terryfox.org and click on find a run or begin at 9:30 a.m. next Sunday at the park.

And next week in this corner, we will speak with Bre Betts, one of the organizers of this year’s event and discuss the plan to significantly raise the profile of the local fundraiser in the coming years.

She says they have a very modest fundraising target this year of $5,000.

“It is really also about bringing awareness, getting people talking, you know, even if it is just so much as it starts a conversation about signs and symptoms of something that causes someone to book an appointment and take care of something or learn about what’s going on in their body.”

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And a reminder, I can be heard weekday afternoons as news anchor and reporter on 94.1 myFM in St. Thomas. As always, your comments and input are appreciated.