WELLINGTON NORTH – The Township of Wellington North is looking into a three-way partnership for streetscape and landscape enhancement that could take place during the Connecting Link construction.
A motion was brought forward at Monday evening’s council meeting by councillor Lisa Hern. The motion recommended that staff be directed to work with the connecting link engineer to consult with the Arthur Chamber of Commerce and the BIA committee.
The Connecting Link project will see major resurfacing of Arthur’s main downtown street and some councillors see this as a good chance to do other work in regards revitalizing downtown.
“The Connecting Link project working in Arthur, it's kind of our one kick of the can and I think we should get it right,” Hern said to council.
Councillor Steve McCabe said to council that it is a prime opportunity to work together to help businesses that will be affected by both the closure and re-opening of the downtown roads.
CAO Michael Givens’ suggested council should consider establishing a budget for the enhancements.
“It might be worthwhile for council to give some consideration to establishing a budget aligned with that so there is some guidance for the BIA and the chamber leading into this,” Givens said. “I don’t want to over-complicate it but I think it’s clear that you want to be involved but it’s also clear it’s not a blank cheque.”
Councillor Dan Yake explained that it they could use a similar model as was used in Mount Forest’s “big dig.” A similar partnership was established during construction in downtown Mount Forest which saw their BIA contribute to the project in the form of a loan with the township.
Yake explained that during the big dig the enhancements desired by the BIA had to be scaled back from their plans. He cautioned against using a high-priced consultant, like was done in Mount Forest.
“I think they can come up with the ideas they want for downtown and not pay the high-priced consultant,” Yake said to council. “Like what happened in Mount Forest, it was scaled back and I think there was a lot of animosity between the township and the BIA.”
Hern said that the BIA and chamber committee is meeting soon to discuss the scale of the enhancements they want.
Council was unanimously in favour of the motion and directed staff to receive feedback from the committee so staff could begin costing and budgeting.
