The clock is ticking.
The Town of Fort Frances announced at the beginning of the month that it had 90 days to begin a purchase process with a buyer for the idle mill here.
Mayor June Caul said two companies are still interested in trying to make a deal and she sent them a personal letter regarding their interest at last night’s council meeting.
Tours are available for companies who wish to view the mill and those will run until the end of the 90 day period, which lands on Dec. 31.
“We still have a little bit of hope out there that something hopefully will come forward before the end of the year,” Mayor Caul noted.
She also said that Fort Frances Legion members joined her in raising the National Poppy Day flag in front of the Civic Centre last Friday to kick off the Legion’s poppy campaign in relation to Remembrance Day.
“[Legion] members will have poppies available at various locations for the next few weeks, so when you see any of those Legion members please support them by donating to their poppy drive in remembrance and recognition of the many men and women who fought and worked to keep our country free,” Mayor Caul remarked.
The Fine Line Art Gallery, meanwhile, is hosting a grand opening from 1-7 p.m. at its new location on 326 Scott Street.
A ribbon cutting ceremony is set for 2:30 p.m. where Mayor June Caul will be in attendance and members of the public are invited.
“Our local art gallery has promoted, displayed, and sold paintings and a large variety of handcrafted pieces of art created by local district artists for many years,” she explained.
As well, she said work on the town’s strategic plan is progressing well and another planning session is being held with community partners on Thursday, Nov. 7.
Coun. Doug Judson said one of the key elements discussed regarding the strategic planning process was finding more ways to get town residents involved in the decision making and governance of the community.
“I’m looking forward too being part of that and certainly a theme I’ve heard from many people in the community since I filed my nomination paper was that getting involved in council is hard if you’re a working person,” he noted.
“I hope that this can be an opportunity for us to energize and rejuvenate local government, to help modernize our process and provide a forum for citizens to be engaged, whether that’s online or in person.”
Coun. Judson also congratulated the Thunder Bay-Rainy River riding’s new MP Marcus Powlowski, who was elected on Nov. 21, to replace former MP Don Rusnak.
“Also thanks to all of the local volunteers who were involved in the many campaigns in our community,” he lauded.
“I know that is a lot of work, it takes a lot of time commitment and we all benefit from having a vibrant democratic process.”
Meanwhile, Second Street was expected to re-open today, according to the towns Operations and Facilities manager Travis Rob.
Bay City Contractors will also be mobilizing at Erin Crescent this week to start with the installation of storm and sewer infrastructure.
Also at last night’s meeting, council:
- approved a recommendation to enter into a five-year agreement with the Ministry of Solicitor General for OPP police services commencing Jan. 1, 2020;
- approved a recommendation to purchase 10 tickets in the total amount of $300.00 for the fall soirée and fundraising gala to be held at the Fort Frances Museum on Thursday, Nov. 7;
- passed a bylaw to approve a service agreement with Norwest IT Solutions for the provision of information technology services;
- passed a bylaw to authorize the execution of an agreement with Pioneer Construction Inc. for asphalt patching of various locations within the Town of Fort Frances awarded through the public tender process; and
- passed a bylaw to authorize the execution of an agreement between Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario as represented by the Solicitor General and the Town of Fort Frances for the provision of police services. The agreement includes a provision for the local OPP to hire two special constables for court security. The estimated cost of the entire policing contract for 2020 is around $2.5 million. It will start on Jan. 1, 2020.
