The contract between the Rainy River Future Development Corp. and Town of Fort Frances is now signed, sealed, and delivered.
Council passed a bylaw at Monday night’s regular meeting authorizing approval of an agreement with the RRFDC to deliver economic development services for the town.
The town also has renewed its membership with the RRFDC.
“All we wanted was to have the whole area working together for the benefit of the district,” RRFDC chair Telford Advent noted in wake of the agreement.
Early last fall, town council indicated it would not renew Fort Frances’ membership with the RRFDC and instead would hire its own economic development officer to suit more specific needs.
When the position was advertised by the town, the RRFDC applied for the job and was granted an interview along with several other individual applicants.
But the other applicants weren’t deemed suitable in the eyes of council and, eventually, the two groups agreed to negotiate a new contract.
“We’ve had a good relationship with the RRFDC in the past and feel comfortable they’ll do a good job for us,” said Coun. Deane Cunningham. “There’s flexibility within the contract to move around to areas of greater priority if they surface.”
The town’s decision last fall not to renew its membership did not sit well with some other municipal leaders in the district and did not bode well for the RRFDC’s project budget.
But now with Fort Frances back on board, the RRFDC has been approaching other non-member municipalities, asking them to join up and help promote and develop the district.
“If I haven’t spoken to them, someone else has,” said Advent. “It wasn’t a hard sell, we’re just out to say what we’re about.
“One municipality I’m not sure has ever been on, Alberton, has joined. They sent us a letter the next day,” he added.
Fort Frances Times
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