Duane Hicks
Downtown parking and parking meters will be just one of dozens of issues members of council and town management will look at over the next three years as part of its strategic planning.
In a draft of strategic plan reviewed during a meeting late yesterday afternoon, it noted the town will examine matters of parking within the downtown core, as well as consult with all relevant stakeholders to ensure the most efficient and effective utilization of public parking spaces.
That discussion also will include the possibility of parking meters.
The matter will be reviewed by the Planning and Development executive committee and the bylaw department, which will make recommendations by next June in conjunction with the creation of the new Rainy Lake Market Square.
Mayor Roy Avis said he brought the issue forward because he gets numerous complaints about downtown parking.
One example is people who work downtown, park downtown, and then move their vehicle to a new space every two hours to avoid the two-hour parking time limit.
“The merchant next door to them will pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey, what’s going on? Why can’t bylaw deal with this?’” noted Mayor Avis.
“Well, they have moved their car,” he explained.
The mayor said the town is going ahead with demolishing the old Rainy Lake Hotel and building a market square to bring more people to the downtown area, and there must be places for more people to park.
“We want to make sure that traffic moves so that people can park and people can enjoy [it],” he stressed.
“If you’re spending $1.6 million, you want to make sure you get results for your money.
“We’ll put it to committee, we’re going to go through it, consult all of those stakeholders, and then move forward from there,” Mayor Avis added.
Coun. Ken Perry said there’s been advancements in parking meter technology—some even take credit cards now.
As such, he’s interested to see how much installing parking meters would cost the town, adding they could be “a very costly item or it could be not as costly as we think.”
“It’s a very involved, comprehensive thing,” said Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig.
“We’re going to have to talk to the BIA, we’re going to have to talk to the Chamber of Commerce,” he noted.
“We’re going to talk to everybody, and talk about why we believe the parking has to be better on Scott Street.”
McCaig agreed parking meters have changed and from the town’s standpoint, they don’t require hiring extra staff to empty them like they used to.
“And plus, enforcement is a little bit different,” he added. “You don’t need a person going up and down the street.
“You have a way of being notified when someone’s meter is expired.
“There’s all kinds of things that can be done,” said McCaig.
The draft strategic plan outlines dozens of topics—ranging from the sale of residential and industrial lots to forest management, finding a buyer for the mill, and business partnership opportunities with First Nations.
Council met yesterday to go over timelines so a formalized document could be prepared for approval at its August meeting.
