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5 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,D ecem ber 24,2020 theifp.ca Speaking to members of the business community, Rick Bon- nette did not try to sugarcoat the past 12 months. "2020 has been a very unusual year; and it has not been a good one," the Mayor told members of the Halton Hills Chamber of Com- merce on a video conference call. "To those of you who have been personally affected or had a loved one fall ill or worse, my heart goes out to you." Local businesses have been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandem- ic and have had to adjust to doing business in a new way. Bonnette praised those who shifted away from their core products to not on- ly produce personal protective equipment, but to donate it to local front-line workers. The Town has also tried to be adaptable, he said. "There's no playbook for a pan- demic," Bonnette said. "We tried to get medical advice and made deci- sions based on that information." The Mayor spoke to chamber members on a number of topics: ASSISTING LOCAL BUSINESS Bonnette said more than 20 ini- tiatives were implemented or modified to assist business, in- cluding Digital Main Street, which helped the transition to e-com- merce. He said the town worked to raise awareness of provincial and federal assistance programs to make sure local business are tak- ing advantage of all the programs available to them. Other plans include: • A business concierge pro- gram that will help businesses streamline the review process for non-residential developments. • A Corporate Calling program to connect businesses with local resources and collect data on busi- ness needs so they can be incorpo- rated into future initiatives. • A strategy to attract new in- vestment and jobs from the inter- national market. PUBLIC TRANSIT The town conducted a public transit study in 2019, but Bonnette said nothing is planned for 2021 due to budget constraints brought on by COVID-19. UPDATE ON THE MCGIBBON HOTEL DEVELOPMENT Amico, the same company de- veloping the Memorial Arena site, submitted a development plan to the town. Though both staff and the public have raised some con- cerns, Bonnette said, "I think they can all be overcome." Amico's plans would increase the number of units from 125 to 160, without increasing the size of the building. Bonnette said Amico hopes to have plans finalized by the spring of 2021. "I believe this will be a great project for downtown Georgetown and it will be a great infusion for the businesses and make down- town Georgetown even more vi- brant." WIDENING OF TRAFALGAR ROAD The Mayor said the project, which will see Trafalgar Road be- tween 10 Sideroad and Hwy. 7 in- crease from two to four lanes, is not expected to start until 2024. It is a Halton Region project that will cost $111.5 million. HIGHWAY 413 Bonnette outlined the town's opposition to the highway, which would cut across the south-east corner of Halton Hills. "We would be hypocrites to say in May of last year that we de- clared a climate change emergen- cy and then say, 'Great, let's bring in a highway that is going to create more greenhouse emissions.'" Bonnette said mass transit and high-speed rail are better solu- tions, especially given that there will likely be less traffic as more people continue to work from home after the pandemic. NEWS 'THERE'S NO PLAYBOOK FOR A PANDEMIC' MAYOR DISCUSSES TRYING YEAR FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce general manager Melanie Frazer and Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette led the virtual meeting with Chamber members to discuss the past year, and the plans for helping businesses recover in the coming year. Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce photo