Kudos to town council for initiating a “Fight the Blight” campaign over 11 days starting this coming Monday—and hopefully local residents take full advantage of this opportunity to help beautify our community.
In the works since January, and stemming from a strategic plan submission by the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce, the town has devised a three-pronged approach to encourage residents to rid their properties of clutter.
All bag tag requirements on residential garbage will be waived next week (May 9-13), followed by two free tipping days at the local landfill on May 14-15 for those who live in Fort Frances.
Then to cap off the campaign, town staff and volunteers will be picking up remaining junk (except hazardous waste) from May 16-19 for those residents who arrange for pick-up by contacting the town in advance at 274-5323 or via e-mail at town@fort-frances.com
The town also has put the call out for more helping hands to assist with this latter collection.
Rooted in the annual high school clean-ups spearheaded by Walter Horban until they fell by the wayside several years ago, and following a similar campaign undertaken by International Falls a few years back, the idea behind “Fight the Blight” is long overdue here and most welcome.
Beautifying our community won’t happen overnight—and certainly involves more than a one-time campaign to get people to clean up their properties.
It is, however, a great first step towards that goal. Equally important, it hopefully spurs a renewed sense of civic pride among residents so the “blight” doesn’t accumulate in the first place.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
