Duane Hicks
With the 100th anniversary of the opening of the International Bridge here coming up this summer, town council has been asked to be part of the plans for a celebration.
At its regular meeting last night, council received a letter to Mayor Roy Avis from local Canada Border Services Agency officer Charles Fisher notifying them of the special occasion and asking them to be part of it.
“As you may be aware, Aug. 1, 2012 marks the 100-year anniversary of the opening of the traffic bridge between Fort Frances and International Falls,” Fisher wrote.
“CBSA is currently looking at different ways to celebrate this event.
“I have been touch with Sherry George from the museum, and she is very interested in doing an exhibit as part of the anniversary,” he added.
Fisher said he would like to set up a meeting with Mayor Avis or a town councillor to discuss the possibility of the town being involved with the anniversary celebration.
Council referred the request to the Economic Development Advisory Committee for its recommendation.
Also at last night’s meeting, council:
•agreed to allow Mayor Roy Avis and CAO Mark McCaig to travel to Thunder Bay today to meet behind closed doors with Resolute Forest Products CEO and president Richard Garneau to discuss issues related to the mill here;
•passed a bylaw to authorize the entering into of certain contracts with respect to the provision of janitorial services;
•passed a bylaw to authorize long-term capital financing of a project to install roof-mount solar panels on certain municipal buildings (this is financing in the amount of $276,266.73, repayable in quarterly instalments of $8,300 commencing Dec. 31, 2011 over 10 years at an annual interest rate of 3.5 percent);
•passed a bylaw to approve an agreement with Nortrax Canada Inc. for the purchase of a backhoe loader (Tender No. 11-OF-14);
•passed a bylaw to approve the award of a contract for consulting services to Myron Edwards Consulting Services regarding the replacement of part of the Civic Centre roof;
•received the drinking water systems monthly summary report for December, 2011;
•referred a financial request from Sunset Country Métis, re: “Heart of the Arts” benefit concert and assistance with sustaining the Métis Hall, to the Administration and Finance executive committee for its recommendation; and
•agreed to buy a table (10 tickets), at a cost of $300, to attend the Fort Frances Community Chest dinner slated for Feb. 12 at La Place Rendez-Vous.
