Interview with Warden Marcus Ryan - May 9th 2024

Thursday, 9 May 2024 11:04

Warden Marcus Ryan talked about the end of the SWIFT partnership, efforts to bring more housing to Oxford, and the importance of asset management.

OXFORD COUNTY - That's a wrap for the SWIFT partnership in Oxford County.

SWIFT stands for Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology and it was a collaboration between the province and local municipalities to bring faster internet to rural communities.

Warden Marcus Ryan says both parties would pitch in some money for the installation.

"It worked tremendously well because it flipped the business case for a lot of fibre companies to say for our own business model alone, we're not going to put fibre down that gravel road in rural Oxford, but if you are going to chip in a couple of a million dollars, now we will put that fibre in, we'll take on those customers and those people have fibre."

Warden Ryan says the project reached over 1,700 premises in Oxford, but the province has opted against partnering with SWIFT again. He says the province has chosen to partner with Infrastructure Ontario instead.

Oxford County is also working hard to bring more housing to our communities.

A video was posted on the Oxford County Facebook page recently, showing off the eight new micro units that were installed on Parkinson Road in Woodstock. They all have occupants now, but county staff are working towards bringing more potential housing projects to council through the Master Housing Strategy.

Warden Marcus Ryan says it requires them to deliver a certain number of units within in the policy framework and their budget.

"They put those out as requests for proposals to the building and development community and say 'If we were able to offer you this piece of land and this much money what would you build for us, what would that building look like and what would the mix of market rate and affordable units be?' Staff would prioritize those and put those options in front of council and we would proceed. I'm optimistic that we're going to see a lot of those before the end of this year be awarded."

In terms of addressing homelessness in Oxford, Warden Ryan says transitional housing is the key because it gets people off the streets, and provides them with the support they need so they can be successful living in their next home.

During his interview with Dan and Marcie this morning, Warden Ryan also discussed the following:

- How the Ministry of Health should be stepping up to take care of mental health and addiction.

- The importance of asset management in Oxford County and how Oxford County Council attended a workshop about it yesterday.

- His plans to volunteer during the Mom and Me Tea fundraiser at the Beachville Museum this Saturday.

- The upcoming anniversary of the first baseball game ever played in Beachville.

You can listen to the full interview below: