Chamber asks town to enforce parking

A concern stemming from the ongoing business retention and expansion project, the local Chamber of Commerce is requesting the town step up parking enforcement in downtown Fort Frances.
In a letter sent to council, Chamber community development officer Cassandra Parise said she’s gathered more than 50 completed surveys from local business owners so far—and one prominent issue is the downtown parking bylaw.
“Many businesses are having concerns with people not abiding by the two-hour parking law and would like to see more enforcement,” Parise wrote.
“They feel they are potentially losing income and customers due to the inconsistent enforcement of the bylaw and the resulting unavailable parking spaces on the main street and avenues,” she added.
“As the voice of business for the Fort Frances area, the Chamber feels it is important to bring these issues to your attention as they arise as part of the BR&E process.”
Council referred the matter to the Planning and Development executive committee for its recommendation.
< *c>Snow plowing
Council also approved a report from Operations and Facilities manger Doug Brown on Monday night to make several amendments to the town’s winter control operations policy.
Butler Avenue, between Scott Street and the lane just south of the new ambulance station, will be added to the priority route to ensure ambulances have access to Scott Street from the station entrance off Butler Avenue.
As well, Frenette Avenue, between Scott Street and Second Street East, will be added to the snow plowing priority route to ensure ambulance access to the Memorial Sports Centre.
Furthermore, no sidewalk snow removal services will take place on weekends and after regular working hours, just during regular shifts.
This is due to the fact there is no standard for sidewalks in the “minimum maintenance standards” section of the winter control operations policy.
Also at Monday night’s meeting, council:
•approved a standard operating procedure for the isolation of the water tower (this is in anticipation of work on the water tower this summer);
•agreed to enter into three-year agreements for plumbing and heating and ventilation maintenance (Pryde’s Plumbing & Heating), electrical maintenance (Galbraith Electric), and carpentry maintenance (Ed Halvorsen Construction);
•agreed to enter into a three-year agreement with Lakeside Process Control Ltd. to provide support services to maintain and update the computer process control system at both the water treatment and sewage treatment plants at a net cost of $91,394, as well as purchase spare computer parts at a net cost of $61,141, as outlined in a proposal from Lakeside;
•approved lease agreements with North Air Services, Ivey Aviation Ltd., Bearskin Airlines, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and William Pruys at the Fort Frances Airport;
•denied a request from Valley Builders to negotiate a write-off of interest charges in the amount of $1,742.92; and
•approved a report recommending a $.50 per capita fee to the Rainy River Valley Safety Coalition be included in the 2008 budget (based on the population of Fort Frances, this would total $3,782.50).