Sunday afternoon marked the annual New Year’s Levee in Prince Edward County.
At the Rotary Club Hall in Prince Edward Community Centre, residents gathered to hear Mayor Steve Ferguson’s plans for the coming year.
Development plans were one of the topics Mayor Ferguson covered, highlighting plans to expand the available housing stock in the community with new development projects.
“Over the coming year, we will continue to lay the groundwork for more housing units to be built in our community,” said Mayor Ferguson. “We are striving to ensure growth is well managed so that we can protect the main character of the municipality by continuing to provide essential services like safe, affordable water and wastewater services.”
While housing development is a main focus going into 2024, Mayor Ferguson put special emphasis on affordable housing to help combat the growing homelessness crisis in the region.
“We’re waiting for the results of our application to the Housing Affordability Fund, which would support many local housing initiatives. Most notably, the Queen Elizabeth school proposal,” said Mayor Ferguson. “Purchasing this former school from the Hastings Prince Edward County School Board was an important accomplishment in 2023.”
He also mentioned plans to begin construction on an affordable housing development in Wellington, with shovels in the ground this year.
Another area of key focus is the County Docs physician recruitment program,
“We hope to see even more doctors commit to practising in Prince Edward County in 2024. In addition to hiring more doctors, they’ll continue to press for funding from upper levels of government in order to advance priorities like the redevelopment of our long-term care home.”
County Docs was able to recruit four doctors in 2023, the first full year of the program’s operation, to practise medicine in Prince Edward County.
During the speech Mayor Ferguson also touched on plans to build a new Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital, with construction slated to start this year.
Members of Prince Edward County greet people at the New Year’s Levee. From left to right, Mayor Steve Ferguson, Councillor Janice Maynard, Councillor Phil St-Jean, Councillor John Hirsch, Councillor Bill Roberts, Councillor Chris Braney, Councillor Brad Nieman, Councillor Sam Grosso, and Councillor David Harrison.
