SOUTH DUNDAS – While the Municipality of South Dundas wants to solicit feedback from its plaza business owners through a series of smaller round-table discussions, the Iroquois and District Business Group is asking instead for a bigger public meeting.
The municipality contacted business owners asking them to register to attend one of eight meetings they scheduled, and to date about eight of the roughly 50 businesses that will be affected have signed up.
At the Iroquois and District Business Group meeting Tuesday morning, the store owners in attendance spoke about how the scheduled meetings all fall within their businesses open hours.
They said they would rather see an evening meeting that they could attend and share feedback with the entire group, including both Morrisburg and Iroquois businesses and their concerns.
“It feels like we’re being segregated,” said Candace Latulippe. “It should be one meeting that we can all attend and work together.”
“And, the proposed times are disappointing,” said Tracey Stewart.
“We wanted to have smaller, more fruitful discussions,” said South Dundas Director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities David Jansen who attended the meeting Tuesday. However, he will take the meeting request back to the CAO for discussion.
Jansen said that because the point of the meetings is to gather feedback, the planned scheduled meetings will go ahead. Then if a public meeting is scheduled that input will be added.
“This is just the beginning,” said Jansen.
“Most of the businesses here can’t afford any more fees,” said Latulippe. “That property is owned by the township, that’s their responsibility.”
“The bottom line is the business people don’t have anymore money to give,” she added. “We’ve had huge losses from COVID, we’re in a recession and costs are going up.”
The group discussed the fact that these plazas, resulting from the Seaway project, are supposed to be Iroquois’ and Morrisburg’s downtowns and downtown businesses aren’t charged extra fees for nearby municipally-owned parking lots anywhere else.
South Dundas council has been considering adding a special area rate, on top of regular commercial taxes paid by businesses located in the Morrisburg and Iroquois shopping centres.
According to the presented staff report, while not set in stone, the plan to be discussed would have plaza property owners paying an additional levy of $1.05 per square foot in Morrisburg and $1.48 per square foot in Iroquois.
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