ELORA – The business community got a truncated version of what’s happening in Centre Wellington this year as Mayor Shawn Watters and CAO Dan Wilson offered an overview at the Mayor’s Breakfast on Jan. 29.
The event was hosted by the Centre Wellington Chamber of Commerce at the GrandWay Events Centre.
Watters and Wilson spoke of the need to balance growth with preserving farmland, and they brought these matters up with the Minister of Infrastructure and the Minister of Municipal Affairs at the recent ROMA conference (Rural Ontario Municipal Association).
They offered a list of non-township projects with shovels in the ground or nearing competition, including:
- the Jefferson Elora Corporation is expanding;
- Geranium Homes will break ground on the new subdivision outside Belwood this year; and
- the expansion at St. Joseph Catholic School in Fergus.
And they provided a list of township projects that will get underway:
- phase two of St. David Street North reconstruction;
- a rebuild of a section of Hill Street;
- construction of the operations centre; and
- work on two sections of Colborne Street – one in Elora and the other realigning the street through the Storybrook subdivision in Fergus.
“We know (these projects) are really hard on businesses,” Watters said. “The motivation is usually below grade.”
Wilson said replacing leaky watermains through these capital projects has reduced the amount of “unaccounted for” water in the township’s water-use data.
Watters and Wilson got a few chuckles from the audience when they talked about parking problems in the two downtown cores.
“Have you heard about this?” Watters asked.
Parking, of course, is an ongoing issues for businesses, residents and visitors to the municipality.
Data collected for the parking strategy says Elora needs more parking now and Fergus is not far behind.
The township is now administering parking tickets and the three-hour on-street parking limit has been extended from the summer months to year-round.
A survey indicated most residents would prefer that visitors pay for parking and residents do not, Wilson said.
“We are investigating paid parking this year,” he added.
They are also looking at some form of public transit after the success of the tourism shuttle bus between Fergus, Elora and parking at the Elements Casino.
Ridership of the shuttle increased by 58 per cent from 2023 to 2024 and 30% of riders were local.
Watters said the business community needs to let the township know when they are planning big, promotional events so they can prepare for matters like increased parking pressures, garbage pick up and possibly policing.
“We need a coordinated effort with tourism,” he said, “and communication.”
The township expects to have a short-term rental bylaw in effect this year.
Watters suggested there is likely need for more hotels and a conference centre in the township – an opportunity for a budding entrepreneur, he said.
He also urged businesses to consider the Community Partnership program to sponsor municipal buildings or parks to gain name recognition and help the community.
There were very few questions from the audience.
Elora business owner Melanie Fagan hoped the county could buy the old Groves hospital site and build affordable housing there.
“I would love the county to own that property. We desperately need more subsidized housing,” she said.
