School property rezoning topic of meeting

The Rainy River District School Board has applied to the town to amend both its official plan and the pertinent zoning bylaw to allow for construction of a new elementary school on the Robert Moore School property.
A public meeting regarding this proposal—which specifically is to change the designation of the northern portion of owned property on the 500 block of Second Street East between Fourth Street East and Crowe Avenue from “recreation area” to “living area,” and rezone the lands from “open space” to “institutional” to accommodate the construction of a school north of, and as a replacement to, the existing building—will precede tonight’s regular council meeting.
Anyone attending this public meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. at the Civic Centre, will be allowed to speak as to why or why not the official plan should be amended and the property should be rezoned.
As previously reported, the new school, which is expected to open its doors in September, 2010, will be a consolidation of the current Robert Moore and Huffman elementary schools.
Both Huffman and Robert Moore had been declared prohibitive to repair, meaning the cost of repair exceeds the cost of building new.
Tonight’s regular council meeting will follow at 7:15 p.m. The committee of the whole meets first at 5:30, but is expected to be in-camera until 6:10.
Other business at tonight’s council meeting will include:
•a regional event request from the Youth Action Alliance of Fort Frances on Aug. 12;
•a verbal update from Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown regarding local construction projects, including the water tower rehabilitation and the present water restriction;
•a presentation by resident Merv Ahrens regarding pedestrian/vehicle safety concerns on King’s Highway between Lillie Avenue and Elm Avenue;
•a request from Paul Bock regarding the placement of a four-ay stop at the intersection of First Street East and Mowat Avenue;
•a request from Mayor Roy Avis regarding a review of the animal control bylaw;
•a bylaw to deem part of Plan SM-2 not to be a registered plan of a subdivision (435 Third. St. E.);
•a bylaw to approve an agreement with North Air Services for Dial-a-Ride services;
•a financial request regarding sponsorship options from the Fort Frances Jr. Sabres;
•a report on a proposed local improvement development on Sixth Street East; and
•requests for reconsideration of Minutes of Settlement for properties at 841 Sixth St. W., 393 Pit Rd. #2, 565 Church St.; and 410 Third St. E.