Duane Hicks
As more and more people get out and about this spring, the Town of Fort Frances is reminding dog owners to clean up after their canine companions.
At Monday’s regular council meeting, Mayor Roy Avis said the issues comes up every year about this time, and he requested once again that people who walk their dogs on the waterfront, in parks, or on the sidewalks “to pick up their dog dung when their dog has completed its job.”
“There is a bylaw against not picking it up. There’s significant financial penalties, and we have some very diligent bylaw officers, so please pick up after your dogs,” echoed Coun. Andrew Hallikas.
Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig noted the town hears about the dog waste issue quite a bit at the Civic Centre, especially from users of the waterfront and the parks.
“It’s only basic consideration to clean up after a pet,” he said.
“We find right now it’s a bad time, and that means some unfortunate employees of Public Works or Parks have to clean up after the fact,” he remarked.
“Just to remind everybody, there is a $75 fine for not cleaning up, and we will be enforcing it in the next little while because it’s gotten worse a little bit over this past winter,” McCaig added.
“So we will be looking into addressing it, and there will be fines if anybody decides not to follow the bylaw,” he warned.
Council also agreed Monday night to write a letter to Chicago Blackhawks’ defenceman and Olympic gold-medallist Duncan Keith, congratulating him for his Olympic performance and thanking him for being a positive role model.
Deputy Mayor Sharon Tibbs told council that during his post-Olympic interviews, Keith mentioned he was proud of the opportunities he had in his minor hockey career, including his time in Fort Frances, and reminded them Keith’s jersey hangs in the Memorial Sports Centre here.
“I thought, in view of the fact he made a contribution to the gold medal team of Canada during the Olympics, that perhaps we again as a community should send a letter from mayor and council on behalf of the community to thank him for his positive image he has put forth for youth,” suggested Coun. Tibbs.
“Yes, that would be very fitting for us to do that,” agreed Mayor Avis.
Parking lot signs
Council also received a letter from St. Mary’s Parish asking the town to post signs restricting sports activities in the new parking lot adjacent to St. Mary’s Church.
“As the spring season is here and there is a brand new, smooth parking lot available, there is a lot of sports activities (skateboarding, hockey, etc.) going on in the parking lot,” Fr. Francis Puddicherry wrote.
“We are concerned that the use of this facility for anything other than parking is going to cause problems for all parties concerned,” he added.
“For the safety of everyone, we would like to suggest that signs be posted restricting sports activities in the parking lot.”
Council referred the matter to the Planning and Development executive committee for its recommendation.
Also at Monday night’s meeting, council:
•referred a letter from the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, re: service quality issues at the Municipal Property Assessment Corp., to the Administration and Finance executive committee;
•referred a memorandum, re: 824 Victoria Ave. (Church of the Holy Spirit) encroachment agreement, to the Planning and Development executive committee for processing by the municipal planner;
•referred a memorandum, re: 824 Victoria Ave. (Church of the Holy Spirit) zoning amendment, to the municipal planner for processing;
•referred a request from the Fort Frances High School “chem-free” grad committee, re: a donation of prizes or money for prizes for the 2010 “chem-free” grad party (June 24), to the Administration and Finance executive committee for its recommendation;
•referred a request from Fort Frances High School “chem-free” grad committee, re: waiving arena and auditorium rental fees, to the Community Services executive committee for its recommendation, with input from the Administration and Finance executive committee;
•approved a report on property at 319 Third St. W., referring a road-widening issue there to the Operations and Facilities division for clarification and conclusion (it also directed the preparation of a minor variance on behalf of the purchaser and directed that the minor variance be processed without fee);
•accepted a report on an inspection of the sewage treatment plant by the Ministry of the Environment (the report indicated no compliance concerns or required actions);
•referred a request from Ontario Good Roads Association for support, re: Municipal Data Works Initiative, to the Operations and Facilities executive committee for recommendation.
•passed a bylaw to amend Town of Fort Frances By-Law 10/03 (this amendment eliminates the yield sign facing northbound traffic at Scott Street and Colonization Road East, and adds a special stop sign to that same location in accordance with MTO regulations);
•passed a bylaw to authorize entering into an agreement granting an easement with Union Gas Ltd. over certain municipal property; and
•passed a bylaw to authorize an end-user licence agreement with the Queen’s Printer, as represented by Land Information Ontario, for purposes of access to the Ontario Land Information Directory.
