Staff
With the town continuing to lose both time and money, Fort Frances Mayor Roy Avis is asking for citizens to remain vigilant and report any vandalism to police.
“The assets in this community are community-owned, they’re owned by the individual taxpayer who has, over the years, contributed a tremendous amount of money to build these assets,” the mayor said in a statement at Monday night’s council meeting.
These community assets come through not only taxation, but via community groups, volunteers, and grants from both the provincial and federal governments, he noted.
“When it gets to the point that people in the community can’t enjoy those assets, we as a council have grave concerns,” Mayor Avis remarked, citing the fountain at Lions Park has been filled with soap three or four times already this year—and in one case the sudsy mess couldn’t be cleaned up until several days later due to the Civic Holiday.
“That’s a very expensive process that we have to go through in order to clean up and maintain it,” the mayor stressed.
He also said it means town employees are tied up repairing this damage when they should be working on maintaining other areas of the town, such as cemeteries, parks, and the waterfront.
“What happens is the other assets suffer,” said Mayor Avis, noting that vandalism also has been ongoing at Pither’s Point Park, and at the washrooms at Legion Park, Lions Park, and the St. Francis Sportsfield.
Mayor Avis urged residents to contact the police if they see someone defacing or damaging municipal property.
