Council to grant Chamber’s requests

After receiving a list of requests to consider for the 2007 budget from the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce at its Jan. 22 meeting, town council agreed Monday to support nearly all of them.
Upon recommendation from the Administration and Finance executive committee, council:
•approved $7,500 as the Chamber’s fee-for-service for marketing the Town of Fort Frances and promoting tourism here;
•approved $5,000 in funding for economic development (this will go to the business retention and expansion project);
•agreed to continue investment in “Project Petunia” through the watering of flower baskets as required; and
•agreed to continue supporting of some of the projects identified in the downtown core report.
Coun. Rick Wiedenhoeft, who sits on the downtown core committee, stressed that with regards to the projects in that report, council only is supporting them in principle at this time and not through actual funding.
Also at Monday night’s meeting, council:
•authorized a charitable tax rebate for 2006 to the Fort Frances Curling Club in the amount of $9,670.45;
•approved 2007 per capita funding for the Rainy River Future Development Corp. in the amount of $52,955 (this breaks down to $7 per capita);
•approved a financial contribution of $1,000 towards “Community Summit II,” which is scheduled for Tuesday, March 6 at La Place Rendez-Vous;
•authorized the purchase of six tickets for the Riverside Foundation for Health Care’s “Oscar Party” on Sunday, Feb. 25 at a cost $300;
•authorized the purchase of 10 tickets to the Fort Frances “Community Chest” benefit dinner this Sunday (Feb. 18) at La Place Rendez-Vous (this also is at a cost of $300);
•received a notice from the City of International Falls to compete in the “Sister Cities Snowshoe Challenge” this Friday (Feb. 16) at 7 p.m. at Smokey Bear Park, and authorized members of council and town staff to participate;
•approved the appointment of Mayor Roy Avis as council’s representative on the Northwestern Health Unit board (this is a two-year term ending Nov. 30, 2008);
•approved a per diem claim from Coun. Rick Wiedenhoeft in the amount of $120 and a per diem claim and travel expenses from Mayor Avis in the amount of $463;
•passed a bylaw to approve a letter of understanding with Lakehead University Thunderwolves Hockey School for operation of a summer hockey school at the Memorial Sports Centre;
•passed a bylaw to approve an agreement with the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. for financing of a post-secondary co-op work placement under the North Ontario Co-op Program;
•passed a bylaw to approve an agreement with Barry and Bonnie Plourde for the lease of certain town property adjacent to 1113 Colonization Rd. W.; and
•passed a bylaw to enter into an agreement with the province for Connecting Link funding (this funding is to resurface Scott Street from 10 metres west of Reid Avenue to 70 metres east of the Colonization Road East intersection).