The design for the new build was provided in Monday's council package. (Submitted photo/City of Melfort)

By Mat Barrett

New Rental Property

Melfort Council gives discretionary approval for new rental property to be leased by Plus Industries

Apr 14, 2021 | 8:00 AM

A proposed six-unit rental complex has received discretionary approval by the City of Melfort.

At the city’s regular council meeting on Monday, April 12, council heard from Brian Menzies of Menzies Construction who is spearheading the project. He told council that the building on the 1100 Block of Main Street would be leased to Plus Industries for them to use for their independent living clients.

“We thought it would be a good thing if we could put up a unit that they could just rent,” Menzies told northeastNOW. “And have all the people in one place.”

A letter given to council by Plus Industries said there are a total of 22 individuals that require residential services in Melfort.

Brian Menzies spoke at Melfort’s regular council meeting on Monday. (Mat Barrett/northeastNOW Staff)

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Notice of the possible project was given to residents of the area, and there were concerns. At the time, it was not known that Plus Industries would exclusively rent the units, and some residents were concerned about the transitory nature of a rental property in an area that already has a number of rental buildings.

“We have a ton of rentals in this area and do not need anymore.” one letter read.

“Rental property does not provide the same sense of stability to the neighbourhood due to the transitory nature of the tenants,” read another letter.

There were also some concerns as for property value in the area, and thoughts that there could be other options. Some other letters cited that there are already drainage issues in the area, but Menzies did say that would be part of the build to make sure there would be no drainage issues. There were some other concerns related to traffic that would come through the area with a rental property, but Menzies said a number of the clients would likely not be driving.

Taking that into consideration, council discussed all the possibilities but eventually decided to approve the proposal.

“I think we answered most of the concerns as best we could,” said Mayor Glenn George.

Councilor Trent Mitchel was the only one who opposed the proposal and said while he supports the idea of the property, he would’ve liked to see a more concrete agreement from Menzies and Plus Industries.

“There’s no guarantee that two years, or five years down the road, the purpose of that doesn’t change,” Mitchell said. “And at that point, the ship has sailed, and at that point we can’t correct it.”

Menzies said he and Plus Industries are currently working out the dollars and cents of the deal to make sure it works for both parties.

“We want to make it affordable for them and for us to do that,” he said.

Menzies did say to council at the meeting that if he and Plus Industries couldn’t come to a deal, the project would not go ahead. He also said that the idea would be to eventually have Plus Industries own the building outright.

According to Menzies, the hope is to complete the townhouse complex by the end of 2021.

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mat.barrett@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @matbarrett6