Officials are hoping a revised proposal for the Erin Village BIA expansion will get a better reception than the previous plan did last month.
Committee vice-chairman Jo Fillery told council last week that eight members of a committee have agreed on a new proposal for the expansion of the existing business improvement area.
The new area will include 16 new properties, bringing the total properties inside the BIA from 41 to 57. Charges will range from a minimum of $150 to a maximum of 7% of the total BIA budget, which Fillery suggests should be $55,000 (with $37,000 coming from levies). The previous plan was not well received by local businesses on Sept. 8. It had an expansion to 89 members, with fees ranging from $100 to $2,800 and a $50,000 budget.
Fillery told council she expected the expansion to be “put on the back burner” during a late September meeting of the committee, but was pleasantly surprised the revised proposal received unanimous support by the committee.
But councillor Ken Chapman said he could not support the new proposal if prospective members are not asked their opinion before proceeding with another public meeting. Otherwise, a whole lot of staff time and money could be wasted for no reason, he said.
Fillery said based on feedback from the committee, she expects the revised proposal will be more palatable for businesses. She also noted she is starting to take some of the criticism she has received in the community personally because she has “worked long and hard” on the expansion for the betterment of the community.
“Yes, I’m passionate about it, and I believe in it, but I’m not doing it for Jo Fillery or What’s Cooking,” Fillery said of her own business.
As with the previous proposal, if one third of the total members under the new boundary object to the expansion plans, the proposal is defeated.
But councillor John Brennan suggested that could be a moot point, considering that even if all the new businesses voted against the plan, they would still not constitute a third of the overall membership.
Fillery replied that it is a “weighted one-third” based on assessment so she is unsure if that is true or not.
Council passed a resolution – with just Chapman opposed – to provide notice of the changes, schedule a public meeting on the new proposal on Nov. 23 at 7:30pm at the township office, and inform businesses they have until Dec. 8 to submit written letters of support or objection.
The BIA will also hold an information night at Main Place on Oct. 19.
