Businesses—local and otherwise—all will be required to get business licences if town council passes a revised bylaw to licence and regulate businesses, taxis, and trades carried on within Fort Frances this evening.
This is just one of the changes to the municipal business licensing bylaw, which is the subject of a public meeting scheduled to start around 6:10 p.m.
Some of the highlights include:
•All businesses will require a licence.
The fees for these are under review, but may be in the $35-40 range. Businesses that have their office outside of Fort Frances but do business here will require a business licence that will be $350 in most cases.
This annual non-resident business licence replaces the recent fee per job requirement.
•Most wording on tradespeople has been removed.
Electricians have requirements under the ESA to obtain master certification by early 2007. The bylaw will state that electricians have to meet the requirements of the ESA in order to work in Fort Frances.
•A contractor will have to pay for one business licence only.
All trades employees will not need their own business licence as long as they are on the payroll of the contractor.
•If a tradesperson is self-employed, they will need a business licence.
•The section on drainage contractors has been removed, and folded into in a “catchall” trades category.
•Buses owned by a small one-bus business will need a business licence (they will not be covered by their respective school boards). If a business has several buses, they only will need one business licence.
•Some businesses that come from out of town on an intermittent basis will not need a business licence (for example, if a tow truck comes into town from Thunder Bay to get a vehicle and take it back there).
The only person currently on the agenda to speak to the proposed bylaw tonight is Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce president Gary Rogozinski.
He’s noted previously that the Chamber membership has concerns as to how the bylaw will be enforced, among other things.
Council will vote on the bylaw after the public meeting. If passed, it will come into effect May 1.
This will give council time to amend its current fee schedule to correspond with any fee revisions in the business licence bylaw.
The council meeting will be preceded by the committee of the whole, which will meet at 5:30 but be in-camera until 5:45.
Other business at tonight’s council meeting will include:
•a request from the Canadian Cancer Society to proclaim April as “Cancer Month” in the Town of Fort Frances;
•a request from the Salvation Army to proclaim April as “The Salvation Army Red Shield Month” in the Town of Fort Frances;
•a request from Pitch-In Canada regarding membership renewal;
•a Cultural Spaces Canada contribution agreement for a heritage tourism project;
•a wage subsidy agreement with the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund. Corp. for one co-op student (GIS data collector);
•a nutrition initiative funding request from Robert Moore School council; and
•a municipal planner’s memo regarding Minor Variance A6/2006 (Kevin Anderson).
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
