Ridgetown BIA Moving Forward to Council
Very soon, Ridgetown may have its very own Business Improvement Area.
An information session was held last night and while it was not a full house, those who did attend were supportive of a BIA.
Jim Brown, co-owner/publisher of Ridgetown Independent News, says local businesses have been talking about the idea and most of them are in favour.
“The general consensus is that we’re not looking at an amount that is going to create a great hardship for anybody,” said Brown, “And it’s going to assist greatly in filling in some of the areas we need to work on.”
The proposition is now expected to move forward to Council once all of the feedback letters from the businesses in Ridgetown are compiled and a report is put together.
And Brown is quite pleased with how quickly things are moving along and with how people have been reacting so far.
“I’m pleased with the reaction we are getting, and the support–it’s been great,” said Brown.
Brown now expects the report to be sent before Council sometime in June for approval.
doubter
May 18, 2012 at 6:59 am
What does “not a full house” mean? Last time there was a meeting about this, there were about 3 people there – most businesses in town could care less about a BIA – they don’t even support the Chamber of Commerce. I have seen the Chamber meeting – about 5 people show up and they don’t even look like business owners to me. What is the point of a BIA anyway?
Great Idea
May 18, 2012 at 9:39 pm
Once you have a BIA in place you apply for alot of grants that can get different things done in the area. Beautification seem to be popular, benches, banners, hanging plants… whatever the group wants. You can also get things done like wifi networks, websites, equipment and so on. Many BIA’s also advertise together and do different group endeavors. Tilbury just applied and got a RED grant I think for 300,000.00. BIA’s are as good as the people that sit on the board though. Sometimes great other times not so great. It means that there will be additional taxes to fund the thing, but usually you get way more back then the cost to be involved. If you are a property owner in the proposed area be sure to get involved, if you have to pay the levy you might as well have a say to where it will be spent.
watching
May 20, 2012 at 11:06 pm
hm – well the local beautification committee already deals with hanging plants as well as plantings in other public spaces, the Ridgetown Rejuvenation Association together with some other local citizens groups organised trees and benches on Main Street, there are already banners for the Festival of porches and verandas and Communities in Bloom and the town itself, and there are new Christmas decorations. So Ridgetown does not need a BIA to beautify. Ridgetown already has a web site. So why a BIA – and the Ridgetown Rejuventation Association is a registered not-for-profit which can apply for grants for local projects – hm.