Duane Hicks
With the 99-year lease for Pither’s Point Park due to expire just a month from now, the public is welcome to attend a forum scheduled for tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at the East End Hall.
Concerned citizen Andrew George, who first announced he was planning a public forum at the beginning of March, admitted he’s not sure what the attendance will be like but that he’s ready for the event, which he hopes will inform, educate, and give a voice to community members on the issues surrounding Agency #1 land and Pither’s Point Park.
“I’m still not sure on the attendance. I’ll be ready for five, I’ll be ready for 100,” George remarked.
“I have had some e-mails, phone calls, and a little bit of a street buzz. I’ve had some positive feedback from a lot of people, which I’m grateful for,” he added.
“But I really still have no clue as to how many people will actually show up.
“I’m definitely ready for it,” George stressed. “I’ve had more information come my way regarding the issue since I called the meeting.
“I’ve been working on my presentation and am ready to adapt to any crowd size.
“I feel confident going into this, I feel confident in what I personally want to present,” he said.
George will give a short presentation outlining the history behind the park and Agency #1 land based on previous studies commissioned by various agencies, as well as his own observations over the past year.
He said his presentation will be unbiased, and based on legal and historical fact.
“As for the format, I’ve settled on myself as moderating,” George explained. “That was my original plan, but I did also explore the possibility of someone else moderating.
“I had someone very interested and willing to do it, but there were scheduling conflicts.
“After I make my presentation, I’ll field questions regarding what I have presented. From there, the floor will largely be open,” he noted.
“I want to keep it feeling more like a round-table discussion than a traditionally-moderated forum,” he continued. “I do have some topic areas we’ll talk about to keep the conversation moving along, but the main focus truly is to find out the concerns of the community.
“As for myself ‘moderating,’ I think a lot of people might wonder why I’m moderating or facilitating the meeting, in regards to my qualifications besides being a community member.
“I think people will be surprised with what I present, and I think they might be surprised to hear where my work has taken me over the last year—and how it has essentially compelled me to stick my neck out and do what I am doing,” George said, adding he is not affiliated with any group but is “just doing it because nobody else is doing it.”
Comments will be recorded in hopes of possibly presenting this information to local representatives of various councils and government agencies.
George said the meeting is informal, and that town residents and band members alike are encouraged to attend and speak their minds.
George, a filmmaker who has videos concerning the history of Pither’s Point posted online at www.fortfrances.tv, said he also will tape the forum, and may or may not end up using some of the footage for a future project.
