Ali Howat, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
The Municipality of Jasper will break ground to install water and sewer utility services on Aug. 16 for future affordable housing.
For years, council and the Jasper Community Housing Corporation have advocated to Parks Canada for parcels GC, GB and GA to support the development of new affordable housing units for the community.
At its July 6 meeting, council gave first reading to both the Connaught utilities borrowing bylaw and the Connaught utilities local improvement levy bylaw.
“In 2020, the Municipality of Jasper received $250,000 in seed funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to support pre-construction plans, including lot servicing,” said Amanda Stevens, spokesperson for the municipality.
For the housing development to become a reality, municipal utilities need to be installed.
Most recently, Parks Canada’s Planning and Development Advisory Committee (PDAC) gave the approval to 142-unit privately-owned development on parcel GB.
An 80-unit affordable housing unit project on parcel GC continues to be worked on by the Jasper Community Housing Corporation.
In meeting held this current year, Jasper Municipal Council approved a project budget of $7,150,000.
This budget will be used to install utility services within the Jasper area.
This will include water, sewer and storm water. Gas and electricity were also planned.
The project is expected to advance the development of new affordable housing within Jasper, but construction is anticipated to impact local traffic until the end of October.
“Our traffic accommodation plan is strong, as is our communication plan,” Stevens said.
“There will be inconveniences for motorists, but we are trying our best to mitigate them.”
Construction is estimated to run from Aug. 16 to Oct. 31.
