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off-street parking areas. Acton BIA Continued d Apart from the initial apathy (only abou 15 people showed up to hear the first proposal from Anthrogram)-public interest in the BIA has been fairly high, and the local newspaper has given wide-spread coverage to all phases of the develope- ment. In the meantime, the Acton BIA is going : ahead with plans to spend the $20,000 budget for 1978, and long-term proposals have been made on where a similar amount is to be spent in the 1979-80 and 81. BIA money for immediate use The provincial ministry of Industry and - Tourism is considering changes in the legistlation governing Business Improve- ment Areas to allow for up-front financial assistance to municipalities who have adopted a BIA. . - Seven representatives from small Ont- ario communities that have BIA's met in late January with provincial government officials. In essence what the loan would do is provide up to $150,000 for immediate use by a BIA with this amount being paid back at one per cent interest over a period of years from money that would be raised through the normal BIA method of increas- ing the business tax annually of those within the designated Business Improve- ment Area. This up-front money would allow for rapid improvements over a shorter period of time, would allow for more precise budgeting on the part of BIA's, and could help to. eliminate one of the complaints about BIA's; namely that the financial restrictions "do not allow for rapid or widespread improvements. ~~ While all members of the BIA are contributing their share, there is the danger that the improve- ments undertaken may initially only be in certain areas. Large soft loans from the {FREE | B PARKING| £8 pane Motorists on Georgetown's main street have no trouble locating the ample A view of o AD Vagos dew snabes sh soda modadb ii 2 nthe BREE RE SATE . nD SL NCEP ALAN SFE ET ANGE 2.04 KISH ITRC TER ENE 3 roan TBAT BIRR A agra CR ) 157s EE A A A PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, Mar. 22, 1978 -- 1 Free Parking behind Georgetown stores The lack of proper off-street parking facilities is- a problem that many municipalities are having to cope with, especially with downtown commercial areas facing stiff competition from suburban and neighbouring shopping plazas. Downtown merchants and busipessmen in the community of Georgetown northwest of Toronto, faced this problem a couple of years ago. They took the bull by the horns, so to speak, and created three large parking lots with spaces for well over 300 cars. Although the lots are on land owned by private individuals and concerns, there is no charge to the public who use the off-street parking. The Parking Authority returns some revenue to the owners of the lots and this money comes from mefers on both sides of the main street. The lots are well marked, and there is easy access to the main street through paved and lighted walkways. Some merchants have created back entrances to their places of business so that shoppers using the parking areas can easily get from their cars to do their shopping. On the main street there are several large signs saying 'Free Parking," and arrows are used to direct motorists to the parking areas. One businessman in Georgetown said the free off-street parking has been a good thing for business on the main street and added there was no opposition among business people to create the parking ots. Georgetown has also implemented a Business Improvement Area which is now into its second year of operation. Some of the funds are used to help finance a major advertising campaign promoting the commercial section of Georgetown. For example, the BIA pays for the front and back covers of an advertising supplement in one of the local newspapers, and merchants pay for their ads on the inside pages. This year, a good portion of the funds from the BIA budget is being spent for an architect to re-design the main street, and the money from future years will be ne of three lots that provide ample parking free of charge. The lot is well marked and used to implement the recommendations of the architect. ili £8 = & \ \ Sf ERE. there is easy access through lighted walkways to the, main street. . . r province could help to alleviate that prob- lem. There are a couple of catches, however. If the government approves the lending scheme, the ministry of Industry and Tourism is expected to" demand that a municipality have an Official Plan in force, and also a standard of maintenance by-law, because the government reasons it would make little sence to spend money in an area where the buildings themselves were allowed by their owners to become run down and out of repair. If for example a municipality with a BIA in place decided to borrow $100,000, this amount could be repaid over ten years at $11,000 a year. And if the BIA budget in that municipality was $20,000 yearly (rais- ed through business assessment) the BIA could re-pay the loan. and still have some $9,000 each year foi other purposes such as promotion. : Hold volunteer training workshop On March 13, Scugog Community Care held its first Volunteer Training Workshop at the Latcham- Centre. Chairman Roy Grierson welcomed every: one and Richard Johnston, Regional Co-ordinator Com- munity Care, explained the programme and how it is run and the role of the Volunteer. Liz Fulford, Co- ordinator Scugog Commun- ity Care, gave an update on what has happened during our first month of service. We have 72 volunteers to date. We assisted 16 people and drove 259 miles in February. 120 Meals on Wheels were delivered and our office volunteers gave 60 hours of assistance. It was noted that as of the 13th of March, we had assisted 16 people so the response is . growing everyday. The 45 enthusiastic vol- unteers attending the work- shop were able to share their experiences, ask ques- tions, provide some. new ideas, and generally keep up /to date with the pro- gramme. We are planning on having - a Volunteer Workshop every three or four months. : The Community Involve- ment and Volunteer Pro- gramme (CIVP) is being integrated into the Com- munity Care Programme throughout the region. The focus of CIVP is to help ~ ex-psychiatric patients or the individual under severe emotional stress to remain in the community. Volun- teers help patients with problems of day-to-day liv-; ing and basic life skills. We have entered into a contract with CIVP to explore the client population - for the programme, the willingness of professionals in the area to act as super- visors and to determine the programme priority for clients in this area. This is a six-month - investigation period after which the pro- gramme will begin once a need has been proven. We ~ will receive funding from Ministry of Health if we set up the programme in Scugog. Our Board meetings are held the second Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers, Port Perry. Anyone interested in the programme is welcome to attend. ES LANE || plumbing ® heating - CALL - PORT PERRY 985-2473 | Ls» NTE FETE REL BE RL ILIA 25 11 ? TAS dtd