Duane Hicks
Council has changed the date of its next meeting from Monday, June 13 to Monday, June 6.
That’s so Mayor Roy Avis, local economic development officer Geoff Gillon, and as many members of council as possible can attend a regional economic planning session of the Northwestern Ontario Joint Task Force on June 13-14 in Thunder Bay.
This change also affects citizens’ opportunity to provide input on the Town of Fort Frances’ 2011 strategic plan.
A formal strategic planning session will be held June 16 at Sunny Cove, but council is giving the public a chance to have their say at the June 6 council meeting (instead of June 13).
The deadline to provide written suggestions for consideration in the plan remains Thursday, June 9.
Also at Tuesday night’s meeting, which was pushed back one day due to the Victoria Day holiday, council:
•referred expressions of interest in the old public library property to the Administration and Finance executive committee for evaluation (as reported last week, the town received official expressions from the Evangelical Covenant Church and Fort Frances Community Clinic;
•authorized 15 15-second graduation congratulatory messages on B93•FM for the cost of $99, plus taxes;
•approved a transfer of $25,228.94 from the sanitary sewer projects reserve fund to the sewer fund operations as part of a surplus from the 2009 budget;
•allocated $38,680 from reserves as a non-budgeted capital expenditure to match Joint Emergency Preparedness Program funding and purchase Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) response equipment for the fire department.;
•denied a request from the Borderland Roller Derby for reduced rental rates on the grounds it already is receiving a reduced rate;
•authorized a donation of $100 to the RBC golf tournament to be held June 25, the proceeds from which will go to the “Community Chest”;
•accepted the 2011 BIA budget;
•agreed to a purchase card expense in the amount of $248.60 for Mayor Avis (for hotel accommodations at the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association conference in Thunder Bay on April 27-29);
•approved travel and per diem claims for Mayor Avis in the amount of $406.32 (to attend a Pither’s Point Park and the “Two Chain” court hearing in Thunder Bay on May 10);
•directed that the tenders for six new town vehicles be awarded to the lowest tenderers (these tenders include three from MacDonald Motors, one from Sunset Country Ford, and two from Dryden GM that equal about $181,150 altogether);
•agreed to process a break-open ticket licence application from the Riverside Foundation for Health Care at La Verendrye Hospital from June 1, 2011-May 31, 2012 in conformance to provincial regulations and rules;
•passed a bylaw to authorize the levying and collection of a special charge of taxes upon the BIA;
•passed a bylaw to establish a percentage by which tax decreases are limited in 2011 to properties in the commercial, industrial, and multi-residential property classes;
•passed a bylaw to approve an agreement with Bearskin Lake Air Service LP for the collection of passenger fees; and
•recommended Coun. Andrew Hallikas as council representative on the new NOMA Air Advisory Panel.
