Attempts to forge a compromise to save Sault Ste. Marie's Downtown Association have failed and local lawyer Joe Bisceglia will ask City Council next week to dissolve the 39-year-old business improvement area.
As SooToday reported last month, the association appeared ready in July to compromise, agreeing to have its governance committee meet with Bisceglia to consider a restructuring.
However, sources tell SooToday that those negotations reached an impasse after one meeting of the governance committee.
Bisceglia, who three weeks ago was saying "if it's dissolved, we're all losers," will be at Monday's meeting of City Council.
The following is the full text of his five suggestions:
- City Council repeal Bylaw 76-419 abolishing the Queenstown Business Improvement Area.
- Immediately establish a committee or board charged with the responsibility of revitalizing and protecting the downtown. It should not be a large committee. Perhaps no more than five to seven persons reflecting a cross-section of interests. The committee should have a representative from the planning department of the city. It should also involve the mayor or the mayor's representative. It should review and investigate ways and means to deal with the downtown issues.
- In addition steps can be taken to immediately enforce the city's bylaws and property standards relating to the downtown properties.
- Serious review and consideration be given to change the traffic patterns in the downtown area. The current traffic patterns were implemented before Sault Ste. Marie had a truck route that bypassed residential areas. The current traffic patterns are no longer necessary. I think most merchants would love to have a busy Queen Street, Bay Street or Gore Street. The phrase 'out of sight, out of mind' may well apply. If you don't go by a business you soon forget about it.
- The Downtown Association in essence at this time and in recent history has been an events co-ordinator for merchants along that certain strip of Queen Street. The City of Sault Ste. Marie through Tourism Sault Ste. Marie can much more effectively handle that task. Tourism Sault Ste. Marie can access funding for an events planner. That means no special levy need be implemented and paid by the downtown merchants. Tourism Sault Ste. Marie can expand its duties and responsibilities that include the planning and implementation of special events for the downtown merchants. Events can be planned and continue with the input of the retail merchants located within the downtown core. There is no question that more can and should be done to attract tourists to this city as a whole as well as downtown.
"We were hopoing we were going to be able to do it with the association, but the association has flip-flopped," said Dominic Ruscio, another downtown dissident who has been encouraging business and property owners to petition the city to dissolve the downtown association.
The deadline for submitting requests to repeal the Downtown Association bylaw and thus disband the business improvement area is August 11, the day after Monday's City Councl meeting.
City Clerk Malcolm White tells SooToday that he will not offer any information on Monday night about the count so far.
Business and property owners have until close of business Tuesday to advise the city if they've changed their minds.
Also, Ruscio confirms to SooToday that he's holding a number of proxy votes from property owners that he has so far not exercised.
The city clerk says it will take several days after the August 11 deadline for city officials to check submitted information against tax records, before the results of the dissolution campaign will be known.
Monday's City Council meeting starts at 4:30 p.m.
It will be livestreamed on Local2.ca.
Earlier SooToday coverage of this story
Fighting for its life, Downtown Association considers restructuring
Professionalism and poker: How downtown plans to beat Dominic Ruscio
There will be no Downtown Days this summer
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