Councillor questions if provincial funding from city hall enough to repair security and fire monitors at Tolpuddle Housing Co-op

London City Hall will use provincial funds for emergency repairs at the Tolpuddle Housing Co-op. Daryl Newcombe explains.

Civic administration has committed provincial funds to make emergency repairs to the security and fire monitoring systems inside the Tolpuddle Housing Co-op, but the amount is much less than Coun. Susan Stevenson believed was available earlier this week.

“The most important thing is that their fire and security measures are in place,” Stevenson told CTV News on Friday.

On Monday, Stevenson left a meeting of the Community and Protective Services (CAPS) Committee believing that Tolpuddle’s entire funding allocation from the Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative (COCHI) of $91, 632 would be utilized for the repairs.

However, a memo this week from city staff explained that $77,017 of the COCHI funds would resolve a construction lien against the co-op, leaving $11,226 for the Intercom security system and $3,335 for the fire monitoring system.

Stevenson points to a report approved by Council on March 3 that described Tolpuddle’s COCHI project as “security system, fire monitoring system”.

She suggests if most of the funding was to pay off a lien, she would have liked to have known.

“I had seen in a report to council that $92,000 was being allocated for fire and security, which made me very happy. But the most recent memo that I’ve seen has 15,000 for fire and security and still has 77,000 going towards the lien,” she explained.

The Director of Municipal Housing and Industrial Development, Matt Feldberg, told CTV News in a response to several questions, “Yes, the $91,000 amount included the lien. If the co-op is successful in negotiating a reduction or removal of the lien, the funds can be repurposed.”

Regarding the cost to repair the security and fire monitoring systems Feldberg explained, “If the identified COCHI funding is insufficient and additional funding is required, the city will explore options to identify one.”

Stevenson says she’ll continue to work with city staff ahead of the upcoming council meeting.

“If input from council is helpful, it needs to happen before March 31,” she added.

“So, this is a very urgent emergency issue.”

Earlier this month, CTV News toured the 134-unit building at the corner of Adelaide and King that includes a mix of affordable and rent-geared-to-income (RGI) apartments for low-income Londoners, families, seniors, and the disabled.

According to the Co-op’s President, tenants for the RGI units come from city hall’s housing access waitlist, but some of those individuals have not had their mental health or addictions stabilized prior to moving into the building.

The situation has led to drug use, drug dealing, threats, violence, and trespassing.

Currently, 15 apartments are so severely damaged that they are indefinitely vacant.

The Co-op does not earn enough revenue from its affordable rental rates to cover the additional cost of repairing the damaged units and making other essential repairs to improve security and livability.

Common areas including hallways and stairwells are covered in graffiti and there are holes punched and kicked into the drywall.

City staff have committed to bring forward a report and recommendations regarding the financial crisis and conditions inside Tolpuddle Housing Co-op at a CAPS meeting on April 13.