Duane Hicks
The Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce has asked council for $9,500 as its annual fee-for-service to market the town and promote tourism.
“We need to really work at promoting ourselves year-round,” said Chamber president Jenny Greenhalgh, who made a presentation to council Monday night along with Chamber manager Annely Armstrong-Thorstad and past president Mark Caron.
Greenhalgh noted the Chamber currently is a hub which fields tourism inquiries year-round.
Last year, for instance, the office fielded 3,817 inquiries—ranging from questions about where to eat, shop, and stay to fishing and boating, as well as what events were going on.
These inquiries are made at all times of year. This past month, the Chamber office has fielded more than 70 inquiries of one kind or another.
“Lots of people ask for directions and if they’re going to go through Fort Frances, we’re going to have to try to give them a reason to stop—and the Chamber is that reason,” Greenhalgh remarked.
“The Chamber presents an opportunity for us to communicate with the travellers and suggest things to them of local interest,” she explained.
“If we can get them to stay overnight, go for a meal, whatever, we will make a significant contribution to the merchants, the resorts—everybody will benefit.”
Greenhalgh said the Chamber is looking for enough funding to “capitalize on this opportunity,” and to do it year-round.
Caron noted the $9,500 request doesn’t cover all of its costs to provide the service, but it “definitely assists” the Chamber.
“We understand that money is tight,” he said.
“But obviously we want to provide a service, moving forward, for the Town of Fort Frances as an asset to tourist information.”
Council referred the request to the Administration and Finance executive committee for its recommendation.
In other news, council agreed Monday night to change the date of its Feb. 23 meeting to March 2.
This is because the original date conflicts with the annual ROMA/OGRA conference in Toronto, which will be attended several members of council.
Council also agreed to a recommendation of the Administration and Finance executive committee that the budget meeting date of Monday, Feb. 16 be moved to Tuesday, Feb. 17 (due to Family Day).
Also at Monday night’s meeting, council:
•agreed to donate a Town of Fort Frances flag to a museum in Argyle, Man.;
•agreed to receive the Minutes of Settlement for property located at 1453 Colonization Rd. W. for the 2014 taxation year due to a change in value due to the condition of structures (the total financial impact is $727.97, consisting of a reduction of municipal revenue of $649.81 and education revenue of $78.16);
•agreed to approve the Safe Communities Rainy River District 50-cent-per-capita financial request in the amount of $3,977.50;
•approved a report to ensure all building materials and contents within the buildings at 501 Sixth St. W. be declared obsolete (through a bidding process, the general public be given an opportunity to bid on all building materials and contents, and that if time permits, Public Works will demolish the three buildings during April);
•authorized the mayor and clerk to enter into a five-year lease agreement with Vianet, at a rate of $3,277.22 (all applicable taxes extra) per year, for space on the water tower for the existing antenna and associated equipment in order to provide Internet and telephone services in Fort Frances;
•referred a request for sponsorship from Miss Rainy River District Alyssa Chiasson to the Administration and Finance executive committee for its recommendation;
•referred a request from Joe Reynolds, chair of Rainy River District Stewardship, for geographical information system (GIS) data to the Operations and Facilities executive committee;
•passed a bylaw to authorize an agreement with the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services for the provision of police services under Section 10 of the Police Services Act;
•passed a bylaw to approve a consultant agreement with Associated Engineering (Ont.) Ltd. for engineering design and project management; and
•passed a bylaw to approve a grant agreement for financial assistance under the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP) with the minister of municipal affairs and housing (this agreement enables the town to submit a claim to the ministry for expenses incurred as a result of last year’s high water event).
