“There are a few things we needed from them that we cannot get right now, so we will have to wait until the election is over.”
There are a few other issues as well. For one, they set a local fundraising goal of $2 million, which has to be met to trigger their mortgage. At this point, they are just under $200,000 away, so they need to keep working on that end. Heide added they were held back a little by mortgage negotiations, but that is settled now.
They have put out requests for proposals to see who will be the contractor for the project. These went out on July 22 and will be in August 23. Due to the fact the assisted living facility is a public entity, they needed to follow these guidelines to move ahead.
Assisted living is a sort of in-between situation for seniors – not living alone, but not personal care. People would live in their own suites, be semi-independent, but not alone. They would have assistance and staff on-site at all times, with available services like meals and laundry. The facility is to be built right next to the Boissevain Health Centre, a perfect place for such an endeavour.
Heide said they do not have a formal list of names of people who would like to move into the assisted living home, but they will soon set up one where prospective tenants can put in a refundable down payment for a suite. Suites will be one bedroom or two bedroom, different numbers of bathrooms, etc. The lowest projected rent for a suite is just under $2,000 a month.
“We want to get construction going first with some of this. There are always a lot of details we can work on,” Heide said.
There are also future possibilities for the site, including a memory care facility and new personal care home, but they are just thoughts for the years ahead, with no work done on them as yet.
As for the assisted living, the hope is all of the parts of the plan waiting can be finished up after the election. The new scenario is to break ground at the end of September. If this occurs and walls come up, they can work on the inside in the winter, with no real opening date set.
Despite a few slow downs, Heide reminds the public this project is happening.
“We are making progress, although sometimes it doesn’t’ look like it on the outside. It is a definite go, we’re just getting delayed by the details.”
by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff