Duane Moleni and the downtown death match

The Sault’s Downtown Association is being forced into the fight of its life.

A group of Queenstown property owners is asking City Council to disband the association and abolish the annual levy they pay to support it.

The downtown dissidents believe the association, established by the city in 1976 as a business improvement area (BIA), is ineffective and businesses aren't getting their money's worth.

Initial counts suggest that the dissidents may actually be capable of recruiting sufficient numbers to legally kill the Downtown Association before it can celebrate its 40th birthday next year.

And the association, which held its annual general meeting last night at Summit Community Church, is now mobilizing for a battle royal expected to begin at the May 25 meeting of City Council.

Leading association supporters into the melee will be Duane Moleni, shown above.

A Kiwi in Canada

A New Zealander whose career has meandered from South Korea, to the Banff Centre for Performing Arts, to the Sault's Passport to Unity and then to the Arts Council of Sault Ste. Marie and District, the much-travelled Kiwi was hired last month as the Downtown Association's manager.

Dismantling the self-funded BIA just as a concerted push is underway to re-energize downtown would be "a giant step in the wrong direction," Moleni believes.

BIAs are associations of local businesses and commercial property owners within a defined area.

Run by volunteer boards drawn from their own members, BIAs are funded through tax levies collected from commercial and industrial properties.

Levies are calculated using the value of each property’s commercial and/or industrial assessment.

"Whether you're a building owner, business owner, or resident of the wide community, we all have a vested interest in creating a vibrant and strong Queenstown and downtown core, otherwise you wouldn't own buildings, you wouldn't be business owners here," Moleni told last night's meeting.

Net gain of 20 new businesses in 2014, 2015

"Collectively, we have the ability to revitalize Main Street. The work that has been put in over the past 39 years will be the foundation on which we build for the future and develop our BIA even more, economically, physically and socially."

"I'm willing to do the work and I hope you guys are too," Moleni said.

Is downtown dying?

Richard Rosset, outgoing chair of the Downtown Association, thinks the facts prove otherwise.

In 2014 and so far this year, he says 27 new businesses opened downtown, offset by seven businesses that closed.

That's a net gain of 20 new enterprises.

"These people need to drive down the street slowly and actually count the number of vacant buildings we have," Rosset told last night's meeting..

"How can anybody say the street is dying?" he asked.

46 property owners have signed repeal requests

Last month, a stack of individual requests to repeal the bylaw that created the Downtown Association was hand-delivered to the Civic Centre.

Forty-six of the 136 downtown property owners signed requests, each detailing tax levies paid.

A letter accompanying the stack of requests indicated that the 46 property owners who want to disband the Downtown Association account for 58 percent of the BIA's total municipal levy.

What happens next?

It's complicated, because Sault Ste. Marie actually has four Downtown Association bylaws, passed in 1976, 1986, 1987 and 1998.

The BIA is also governed by Ontario's Municipal Act.

The following may oversimplify some complexities, but it serves as a general consolidation of those five governance documents on what happens next:

• Officials in the city treasurer's office are now examining the requests to ensure they represent at least one third of current Downtown Association members, and at least one-third of taxes levied. City Clerk Malcolm White told SooToday this afternoon that there is initially no reason to believe the requirements have not been met.
• Once this has been confirmed, the Municipal Act requires City Council to send formal notices to each property owner within the BIA. In cases where tenants pay the BIA levy instead of the property owner, the owner is required to pass the notices on to the tenants. Council has no ability to alter this requirement. It's a legal obligation.
• After 60 days (in this case, June 19), if the number of returned repeal requests is at least 50 percent of current members, and at least 50 percent of taxes levied, the BIA is considered dissolved and its assets will be seized by the municipality. Again, this dissolution of the BIA is a legal requirement. City Council must comply with it.

Moleni told last night's meeting that fighting the repeal battle will be his top priority until it's resolved.

What should Downtown Association members be doing now?

"Really, it's about lobbying," Moleni said. "It's about showing the value and worth of the BIA. talking to your neighbours, getting out there and saying this is what we want to do moving forward."

"A lot  of people are looking at this as an opportunity to save tax," said Richard Rosset.

"If you're a business owner and not a building owner, you need to speak to your landlord. If you're a building owner that isn't here, we need to convince you. It's unfortunate. Most of the people that signed that petition are not here this evening. They have no idea what we're doing. We're spending hours, volunteer hours, trying to make the city better. And they don't get it."

Mayor skips meeting. He's getting married this weekend

Ward 5 Councillor Frank Fata and Ward 6 Counclllor Ross Romano attended last night's meeting.

Ward 5 Councillor Marchy Bruni showed up after the gathering had adjourned and mingled with the crowd.

Ward 2 Councillor Susan Myers had planned to attend but contacted the association in the afternoon to say she had been called to attend another event on behalf of Mayor Provenzano.

The mayor advised that he couldn't be there because he is getting married this weekend but will meet with Moleni early next month.

The following is excerpted from Rosset's remarks to the annual general meeting last night: