Residents and stakeholders are encouraged to attend a public information meeting Tuesday night (June 13) to comment on recommendations for long-term development plans in the Downtown Core Committee report.
The meeting is slated for 7-10 p.m. at the Memorial Sports Centre auditorium.
Patti-Jo Reid, chair of the local Economic Development Advisory Committee and Downtown Core Committee, said Monday morning she’s hoping as many residents and downtown business owners as possible come out for the meeting in order to provide input on the many recommendations in the report.
“If you have any issues with any of the recommendations, it’s your opportunity to express those publicly,” Reid noted. “It’s also information for the town council to make their final decisions on the recommendations.
“That’s what it’s for basically—it’s in their hands. They need that information to carry on,” she stressed.
Reid said the committee sent out some 50 letters to all the stakeholders in the downtown area.
As of this morning, town administrative assistant Lori Pattison confirmed she has 11 stakeholders scheduled to make presentations.
“We’re going to do some telephoning and remind people once again that if they want to make a presentation, that they should be registered at the town hall,” noted Reid.
“We certainly do need their input,” she stressed. “This information is for the town council to make their decisions on the recommendations.
“We have to know how the citizens of Fort Frances feel about it, and especially the stakeholders—those people that have businesses in that area.”
Those making presentations will have five minutes to do so. Those not making a formal presentation will be able to make comments, with a time limit of two minutes.
There also will be a question-and-answer period, with a limit of two questions per person. If they have more than two, they have to wait their turn to ask the additional ones.
Hard copies of the Downtown Core Committee report are available at the Civic Centre and the Fort Frances Public Library, as well as on-line at www.fort-frances.com/final-report.pdf
Reid added no one involved in the Downtown Core Committee will be facilitating Tuesday night’s meeting.
Town Information and Technology manager Darryl Allan will be making a 15-20 minute Power Point presentation while local public school board trustee Dan Belluz will be moderating the meeting.
The Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce also sent out notices of this meeting to its members last week.
It is strongly urging all Chamber members, area businesses, and residents to review the report and to attend the public meeting with their comments, concerns, and/or support.
The Downtown Core Committee was first struck last year, and met between January and October of 2005 to devise a report addressing how to revitalize downtown Fort Frances.
Created as a working body under the EDAC, the committee—consisting of members of the EDAC, the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce, Business Improvement Association, Abitibi-Consolidated, Re-Inventing Fort Frances, and the Rainy River Future Development Corp.—met to discuss pertinent issues and formulate possible solutions to problems.
The “downtown core” was defined as the BIA zone (100-300 blocks of Scott Street), as well as the adjacent areas from the river to Second Street East, east to the Memorial Sports Centre, and west to Central Avenue.
The committee used some of the studies that already have been done in Fort Frances, such the Heritage Tourism, Re-Inventing Fort Frances, Tomorrow, and tourism, traffic, and fishing museum studies, rather than commissioning a new one.
After reviewing the studies, the committee investigated barriers and opportunities in relation to issues arising.
Issues identified included traffic flow, parking, funding, museum plan support, alleys and lanes, tourist centre relocation, the public library, the town as a destination point, signage, and downtown branding.
Four sub-committees were formed to review and analyze each of these issues, which then were grouped into four sections—traffic flow, parking, alleys/lanes, and the Tourist Information Centre relocation; signage; branding and downtown issues; and council issues.
Those subcommittees met and provided final reports of their discussions and ideas, which then were compiled in the document given to town council back in November.
In March, council started to take action with a number of council-specific recommendations from the committee, including having the mayor and CAO commence discussions with the affected landowners to fulfill goals of the plan.
It also had the Planning and Development Advisory Committee review and report back to council on the most appropriate use of lands deemed available.
Council also agreed to hold public meetings to inform and get input from town residents regarding downtown core initiatives being proposed, the first of which will be tomorrow evening.
Eventually, administration will be directed to put together an estimate of costs to fund the projects, and the Administration and Finance executive committee will be directed to put together a long-term plan to reduce the commercial taxes in town.
(Fort Frances Daily Bulletin)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
