Duane Hicks
To celebrate Family Day next Monday (Feb. 20, town council is offering local residents several free activities to do together.
A free adult skate will run from 8-9:20 a.m. at Ice For Kids Arena, followed by a free family skate 9:45-11:35 a.m.
Then there will be free shinny hockey for kids 13 and over from 11:45 a.m.-1:05 p.m., and from 1-2:50 p.m. for kids 12 and under.
There also will be a free family swim at the Memorial Sports Centre pool from 1-3 p.m.
Mayor Roy Avis suggested council support these activities, paying for them out of its public relations fund, to which councillors agreed.
“I think that’s a great thing for the community,” he noted.
“In the times we’re in right now, I think it’s good to support family events as much as possible,” the mayor added.
Meanwhile, the public library will be open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Family Day, with a family movie to be shown at 1 p.m.
Call the library for the movie title, or check visit library.fort-frances.com for details.
In other news, the local Police Services Board is asking council to consider a bylaw to help control excessive alarm reports within town limits.
The OPP responded to 129 false alarms at businesses in Fort Frances last year, down slightly from 149 in 2010.
Along with its request, the Police Services Board passed along a sample bylaw from the City of Kingston, which includes a section whereby businesses which install, maintain, and monitor security alarm systems are required to pay a fee if police have to respond to a false alarm from a registered alarm system.
Council referred the resolution to the Planning and Development executive committee for its recommendation.
Also Monday night, council referred a letter dated Feb. 3 from resident Ed Katona, re: smoking bylaw enforcement issues, to the town’s formal complaint process.
In his letter, Katona noted that “on numerous occasions” the smoking bylaw has been violated and the bylaw is not enforced on a consistent basis at the entrance to the Memorial Sports Centre.
He also noted the signage regarding the bylaw posted at the entrance to the arena “is proving to be very ineffective.”
Council bullets
In other business at Monday’s meeting, council:
•appointed Marietheres Metke and Annely Armstrong to the BIA board of management for a term ending Nov. 30, 2014;
•appointed deputy mayor Sharon Tibbs to be acting chair of the committee of the whole at the next council meeting (Feb. 27) because chair Coun. Rick Wiedenhoeft and vice-chair Coun. John Albanese will be unable to attend due to the ROMA/OGRA conference in Toronto on Feb. 26-29;
•approved a donation of $140 towards the Bantam boys’ provincial playdowns, which were held at the Fort Frances Curling Club earlier this month;
•directed that 12 bumper stickers for taxi cabs be purchased by the town, with the costs being recovered by the taxi owners, and further that the licensing bylaw and fee schedule be amended (pursuant to accessibility legislation, it is necessary for taxi cabs to have vehicle registration and identification information displayed on the rear bumper of a taxi);
•authorized the approval and posting of the Town of Fort Frances Accessibility Plan for 2012;
•referred an invitation from the local Alzheimer Society to attend the “Spring Reflections” charitable dinner here March 24 to the Administration and Finance executive committee for its recommendation;
•referred an invitation for input from Rainy River District OPP A/Insp. S. Shouldice, re: 2011-13 Rainy River District Business Plan, to the Community Services executive committee for its recommendation;
•referred a financial request from the Ontario 9-1-1 Advisory Board, re: the continuation of 9-1-1 Advisory Board as technical and information authority respecting implementation and operation of 9-1-1 Emergency Number Systems in Ontario, to the Administration and Finance executive committee for its recommendation;
•passed a bylaw to amend Town of Fort Frances By-Law 10/03 (this is to install a second church loading zone on Victoria Avenue, as requested by the Salvation Army);
•passed a bylaw to authorize a lease with J. Peterson with respect to certain municipal property at 501 Sixth St. W.;
•referred the matter of the 100th anniversary of the International Bridge here to the Rainy River Future Development Corp. for consideration of participation and recommendation to council, and furthermore appointed Coun. Wiedenhoeft as council’s liaison in this matter; and
•received a letter from the Town of Atikokan re: terms of reference and record of consultation for the Osisko Hammond Reef Gold Project, and agreed to support the activities by Osisko in all phases of the project to explore the economic feasibility of, develop, and operate a gold mine on the Hammond Reef property on the grounds its potential benefit is significant to the district.
