Duane Hicks
There’s hope yet that property on Front Street could be developed into condominiums.
The town has been contacted by a Thunder Bay-based company called Northern Superior Structural Solutions.
“We do have somebody that’s making a proposal to the committee at the present time,” said Mayor Roy Avis.
“Council’s made no decisions,” he stressed. “We do have an interested contractor . . . and moving forward, we hope that we can put a package together and see another building there.
“It’s a need in our community at the present time,” Mayor Avis added.
He said it’s premature to divulge more details at this time, but council has asked the contractor to bring forward a business plan at a future meeting.
The property in question is located at Front Street and Mosher Avenue. The town actively has been seeking a developer at that site since 2008.
Also last night, council met behind closed doors with an individual regarding the possible disposition of the old Rainy Lake Hotel.
Mayor Avis said that, as many people are aware, the town has been approached in recent years with a plan to demolish the hotel and then redevelop the site into a market square.
After last night’s meeting, that’s the direction council wants to keep going.
“I think the flavour of council is this evening that we support that, and moving forward we hope that we can get some economic development funding and try to make our downtown core more friendly to people that are coming into our community,” the mayor said.
Also at last night’s meeting, council:
•agreed to reschedule its Feb. 24 meeting to March 3 (this is due to the fact not enough council members would be available to form a quorum);
•referred an advertising request from the Ontario Filmmaker Directory, re: its 100th anniversary promotion, to the Administration and Finance executive committee for its recommendation;
•passed a bylaw to approve an agreement with 539989 Ontario Ltd., doing business as North Air Services, for provision of Dial-a-Ride services in the Town of Fort Frances;
•passed a bylaw to approve a contract with Lakeside Process Controls Ltd. for support services re: Emerson Process Management control systems installed at the wastewater and water treatment plants here; and
•passed a bylaw to approve a transfer payment agreement with Ontario.
