Town to form border traffic committee

Following up a resolution the Police Services Board made last month, town council gave the go-ahead at its meeting Tuesday night to establish a border traffic advisory committee.
The committee will look into two specific areas of concern—the immediate traffic issues related to 2008 road and biomass construction, as well as ongoing long-term concerns of tourist traffic returning to the U.S.
The committee will be looking at municipal bylaws, provincial legislation, and all sources to try and make the border crossing here as efficient as possible.
The goals of the committee will be to recommend policies and procedures to:
•ensure a safe and positive experience for all those moving to and from Canada and the U.S.;
•provide enforcement agencies with the necessary information and tools to deal with line-up issues (controlled intersections, blocking of entrances and exits, and instances of “road rage,” construction projects, and special events);
•ensure the border crossing is as user-friendly as possible; and
•ensure minimal interruption to local business.
The committee will be made up of Coun. Rick Wiedenhoeft, OPP detachment commander Insp. Dave Lucas, Police Services Board chair John McTaggart, Community Services manager George Bell, and Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown.
The committee also will be seeking input from stakeholders, including but not limited to, Canadian and U.S. border services, emergency services, NWOTA, the district truckers’ association, bridge owners, AbitibiBowater, and affected businesses.
The committee will provide a report to council by March 31.
< *c>Biomass incentives
Also Tuesday, council approved an application from the former Abitibi-Consolidated for economic development incentive programs in regards to its biomass project, as recommended by the town’s Administration and Finance executive committee.
The incentives granted include:
•the provision of municipal services related to the project to a limit of $100,000 (this includes tipping fees, application fees, and service connection fees);
•the provision of a building permit, for the construction, at no cost (the permit has an estimated value of $70,000); and
•the implementation of the town’s Community Incentive Plan (CIP), providing tax relief of 75, 50, and 25 percent, respectively, in the first three years of operation of the facility;
Council also directed that an agreement and an authorizing bylaw be prepared for approval at a future meeting.
Also at Tuesday’s night’s meeting, council:
•directed that Traffic Bylaw 10/03 b amended to create a loading zone on the west side of Victoria Avenue, adjacent to Northland Basics, and just north of the intersection on Scott Street;
•authorized the signing of a new “Bear Wise” agreement between the Town of Fort Frances and the Ministry of Natural Resources for the funding of a special “Bear Wise” project (the province will be giving the town $17,000 to install 12 more bear-proof garbage containers within town parks and along walkways before March 31, 2008);
•agreed to a recommendation of the Administration and Finance executive committee to approve a rent increase of 1.4 percent for 2008 for town-owned residential property located at 501 Sixth St. W.;
•received the minutes of settlement for property located at 951 Sixth St. W.;
• authorized staff to proceed with the implementation and application of the town’s revised and new health and safety policies;
•approved the recommendation of the Administration and Finance executive committee to advertise in the Northwestern Ontario Vacation Guide Map at a cost of $520 (plus GST);
•approved a collection fee recovery request to the Ministry of the Attorney General with regard to the collection of POA fines in default, and directed that an authorizing bylaw be prepared;
•agreed to consider a grant to the Fort Frances “Meals on Wheels” program in the amount of $13,500 during the 2008 budget process; and
•agreed to the recommendation of the Administration and Finance executive committee that each division investigate the potential impact of user fee increases up to three percent in 2008.