KENILWORTH – Wellington North economic development officer Dale Small is promoting the idea of an Arthur downtown BIA.
Small also expressed a desire to have something in place by the end of 2019, so that a new structure would be in place for the 2020 taxation year.
Mount Forest already has a downtown BIA. He anticipated no change would be needed to the Mount Forest BIA unless its coverage area was to expand.
Small stated each community is also served by individual chambers of commerce and more recently downtown revitalization committees.
These three groups within each community could then transform into an Arthur board of management and a Mount Forest board of management, Small said.
In his Aug 26 presentation to council, Small asked council to recieve for information his report on Wellington North Business Improvement Areas (BIAs).
Small explained Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) are a “made-in-Ontario” innovation that allows local business people and commercial property owners and tenants to join together and, with the support of the municipality, to organize, finance, and carry out physical improvements and promote economic development in their district.
Small explained once a BIA is approved by municipal council, commercial property owners within its boundaries become members and pay the BIA levy along with their property taxes.
Small stated functions of a traditional BIA can include downtown beautification, revitalization, marketing, special events, business recruitment and communication.
He noted the Mount Forest BIA has been in existence since 1985 however over the years a BIA has never been established in the village of Arthur. “Recently, through our work with the Downtown Revitalization Committee’s, we have also come to realize that the general functions of a BIA, as indicated above, are very similar to the current focus of our Downtown Revitalization Committees.”
Small stated “It has also become apparent that the existing Mount Forest BIA is having extreme difficulty in obtaining quorum and generating new membership and interest in its work. As a result, we believe the time has come to change the existing Mount Forest BIA structure and at the same time create an Arthur Business Improvement Area.”
He noted “from a board of management perspective, the plans have not yet been finalized, however our thinking is that in Mount Forest we would integrate the BIA and Downtown Revitalization Committee into a new Board of Management.”
In Arthur, Small stated a new board would be created which would include members of the downtown revitalization committee and a few others.
He hoped this work would allow Wellington North to approve a bylaw to establish the new BIA structure effective with the 2020 taxation year and appoint the board of management by Dec. 16.
Small noted that for the past few years the Mount Forest BIA has received $30,000 in funding from the levy collected on the property owners within the current BIA boundary.
Councillor Steve McCabe noted there was some discussion of the Arthur BIA idea at the downtown revitalization committee.
Small said there was an additional discussion since the last revitalization meeting, and it will be an item on the agenda for the next meeting in September.
“At that meeting I would hope to share with them some ideas such as whether to include the entire main street. There’s been a number of discussions, but nothing really finalized yet.”
When asked the difference between BIAs and chambers of commerce, Small said “when a municipality passes a bylaw to establish a Business Improvement Area, that allows the BIA to collect a levy (collected with taxes) which is then used to beautify or enhance the downtowns. If all you have is a chamber of commerce, you cannot collect that levy.”
Small said in Arthur, the end solution might be a BIA that includes the chamber of commerce and the downtown revitalization committee.
Clerk Karren Wallace said business owners may choose whether or not belong to a chamber.
However with a BIA an area is determined by municipal bylaw and the BIA levy is mandated and the funds go towards the BIA budget.
Councillor Sherry Burke asked if the Arthur BIA came to fruition it would remain a single group or join with others to collaborate on projects.
Small said at one time he saw the potential of developing a Wellington North BIA. “Now that I understand the Municipal Act better and I understand the BIAs a bit better, I believe it would be better to have two separate BIAs.”
At the same time, Small said he hoped the two groups would be able to collaborate on specific projects beneficial to both communities.
Burke said she had asked because she was aware that the Arthur and Mount Forest chambers of commerce do work with each other.
Small explained part of the reason behind his report was to make council aware that this was moving forward.
“We want to try to have this in place for the 2020 tax year – should council wish to move ahead.”
Burke asked if a meeting was needed, above and beyond simple notification so people could ask questions.
Small said notices must be mailed, and an open house on the issue could be held – at council’s discretion.
Although he did not want to slam every building owner, Small said “but we have challenges getting building and business owners together for such a meeting.”
Hern said she was glad this discussion was being held. “Being the chair of the revitalization committee has really shown that there are a ton of ideas in Arthur – but we’ve run out of funds. We need a constant revenue stream.”
She believed a BIA could make a lot of sense to help move things forward.
