Town council received a request on Monday night from the local Police Services Board to install a surveillance camera at the Memorial Sports Centre for monitoring activities at the skate park.
Board chair John McTaggart said Tuesday morning that the idea for the camera stemmed from input from local residents.
“We’re receiving some concerns regarding loud noise and music at different hours. It’s just a method of keeping a handle on what’s going on,” he noted.
“It’s a safety issue, too,” he added. “There’s people of all ages out there, and from a safety perspective, it’s important that some kind of eye be kept on it for everyone’s well-being.”
McTaggart said he felt the skate park is “a wonderful asset to the town,” but that some form of monitoring was a must.
Council referred the request to the Community Services executive committee for its recommendation. The matter will come back to council at a future meeting.
Also at Monday night’s meeting, council:
•agreed to recommendations from the Administration and Finance executive committee to approve requests for reconsideration of tax adjustments at 1005 Crowe Ave. and 48M368 Lot 16;
•approved a break-open ticket licence application from the Rainycrest auxiliary for June 1-Nov. 30, 2006 at the 364 Store;
•referred a request from the Atikokan Crisis Centre regarding billboard privileges to the Planning and Development executive committee for its recommendation;
•agreed to a request from World Harmony Run organizers to proclaim May 12 as “World Harmony Run Day” in the Town of Fort Frances, and greet torch bearers when they arrive here at 3:30 p.m. that day;
•agreed to a request from the Canadian Hearing Society to proclaim May as “Hearing Awareness Month” in the Town of Fort Frances;
•agreed to a joint request from the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), and Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) Committee to proclaim May 12 at “Registered Practical Nurses Day” in the Town of Fort Frances;
•passed a bylaw to amend the town’s official plan regarding 201 and 209 Victoria Ave., and a bylaw to amend Zoning Bylaw 08/98 regarding 209 Victoria Ave. (these amendments are to permit the building of an addition to St. Mary’s Catholic Church and rezone adjacent lands from “open space” to “institutional”);
•passed a bylaw to provide for the use of alternative voting methods and optical scan vote tabulating equipment in the 2006 municipal election;
•passed a bylaw to approve an agreement with DataFix for Municipal VoterView web hosting services and vote-by-mail services for purposes of the 2006 municipal election;
•passed a bylaw to approve an agreement with Dominion Voting Systems Corp. for the rental of optical scan vote tabulating equipment for purposes of the 2006 municipal election;
•passed a bylaw to approve R.J. Burnside and Associates for engineering services;
•passed a bylaw to approve an agreement with Brian Avis for project management services regarding the Heritage Tourism Project; and
•passed a bylaw to approve an employment agreement with Gerald Armstrong and his appointment as interim fire chief, emergency management co-ordinator, and district fire co-ordinator for the Town of Fort Frances.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
