Council updated on Crime Stoppers merger

OPP Det. Cst. Gary Potter updated Fort Frances council on the upcoming Crime Stoppers merger at its regular meeting Monday night.
Det. Cst. Potter, co-ordinator of Northwestern Ontario Crime Stoppers, Inc., spoke to council about how the original idea came about as well as the pending execution of the new program.
International Falls and Koochiching County, Mn. are joining in a partnership with Northwestern Ontario Crime Stoppers, Inc. as the first “truly international” Crime Stoppers community, he told council, and at a very pertinent time politically.
“Since 9/11, we’ve had a lot of issues brought to the forefront in terms of border issues,” Det. Cst. Potter remarked.
“Due to the closeness and proximity of the borders, we thought we would dedicate this launch to the victims, families, and survivors of the attack in New York [on the World Trade Center].”
The launch is set for Saturday, Sept. 11 at 12:01 a.m., with an official opening ceremony slated in International Falls at 1 p.m. that same day.
This joint venture will be non-profit, will function in fundraising and other related endeavours, and will hold to the same standards of anonymity it always has.
Det. Cst. Potter told council the two main problems in including the public in fighting crime are apathy and fear of reprisal—and Crime Stoppers battles both.
They address the issue of apathy by granting a monetary reward and fear of reprisal by guaranteeing anonymity.
Never in its history has an informant ever been identified by Crime Stoppers, Det. Cst. Potter stressed.
Following the presentation, council proceeded to unanimously pass the few bylaws on the table with little or no public discussion, including the proposal to increase taxicab fees here.
The amended bylaw—due largely to the dramatic increase in gas prices of late—has increased fees from the base rate of $2.95 for the first .25 km to $3.35, with the additional increments of $0.10 for every .050 km.
That translates into an increase of $0.10 per km over the previous rates.
Council also passed a bylaw to amend an agreement with Paul Bock for a limousine service here, which increased the rate for such a service both to and from the airport.
As well, council discussed the recommendation from the Planning and Development executive committee to maintain the “open space” status of the property on the 1100 block of Nelson Street.
For now, the lot will remain zoned as open space, maintaining the status quo.
But council made it clear that while this is their current decision, at some point in the future, should it be deemed appropriate for the town’s needs, council could re-zone the property as “surplus.”
Meanwhile, the bylaw to authorize the levying and collection of a special charge of taxes upon the Business Improvement Area also was passed Monday night, which is, in essence, the approval of its annual budget.
The BIA used the money collected to finance such things as contract work, conferences and courses, advertisements and promotions, repairs, plants and trees, and office rent.
The collection of the tax is limited to the designated BIA area, as outlined and approved by the Ontario Municipal Board in 1979.
Also Monday night, council discussed the nuisance bear issue. After being downloaded to the municipalities, the province has undertaken most of the financial responsibility of addressing the issue.
The Ministry of Natural Resources will give the town $20,000 towards the cost of dealing with bears in the area, including their removal, if necessary.
The town receives about 50 calls annually from concerned residents who have spotted a bear, and though only about 10 percent of these calls result in the bear’s actual removal, the process still is a costly one.
From the time the call is received up to the response, possible tranquilization, and removal, the cost to the town ranges between $350 and $500 per call.
Under this new agreement, the town now has an obligation to properly document all bear incidents, the administration of which partially will be offset by the $20,000 in provincial funding.