TREENA MIELKE/Rimbey Review
Although the ‘i’s haven’t been dotted and the ‘t’s crossed, a land deal between Rimoka Housing Foundation and the Town of Rimbey is almost a sure thing.
Council, following an in-camera session last Wednesday, passed a resolution to offer to sell the housing foundation 8.62 acres of land north of the Rimbey Christian School for $200,000.
“It’s pretty much a done deal,” said Coun. Joe Anglin, chairman of the Rimoka Housing Foundation.
“We’re going to purchase it. We’ve been looking at land and talking to various people selling land for the last two months. This is an opportunity that came up.”
The partially serviced land is to be sold to Rimoka for the purpose of building a complex that will allow seniors to stay there even as their need for care increases.
“Our goal is to build an age-in-place facility. As people move into these places their need for care increases. An age-in-place facility means they don’t need to move to find the proper care,” said Anglin.
Anglin said it is unfortunate that in Rimbey, under the current system, those in need of a higher level of care, are often forced to move to another town where that care is available.
“It’s devastating for them to have to move out of the community from where they have lived for a very long time and where their roots are,” he said.
While Anglin could not specify a time frame as to when such a seniors’ residence would be built, he is pleased with the steps taken so far.
“We have the land locked in. There is a pressing need in Rimbey (for an age-in-place facility) and the sooner we can make that happen the better. Now we have a whole lot of work to do.”
Rimbey’s accommodations for seniors now include Parkland Manor and Kansas Ridge 1 and 2.
“What we have is good,” said Mayor Sheldon Ibbotson, “but there is a waiting list and we don’t have assisted living, which we need.”
Rimoka Housing Foundation is the management board for seniors’ housing in Rimbey, Ponoka and Ponoka County.