A plan to use provincial funding to "spruce up" Essex town centre will be discussed at Essex Town Council tonight.
A $26 million fund to help municipal governments undertake main street revitalization was created as part of Ontario's Main Street Revitalization Initiative. Essex is getting $56,000 from that fund.
Ward 4 Councillor Sherry Bondy tells AM800 News the report recommends money be split between all four town centres. "Essex Centre will get $18,000, Harrow will get $18,000, Colchester and McGregor will each get $9, 000. Now councillors and community representatives like the BIA [Business Improvement Association] and the Chamber [of Commerce] can go back to those committees they sit on and say what do we want to see?"
"Harrow already has an idea of what they want to spend their windfall on," says Bondy. "The Harrow Chamber of Commerce has been working on a plan to look at the welcome signs with the service clubs at each entrance. Hopefully this grant will match that request and we'll see some improvements in Harrow shortly."
Even if the grant doesn't cover the entire cost of community projects, Bondy says it's still a win for Essex. "If it's $18,000 dollars, that makes up half the cost and it reduces the pressure on the chamber and the service clubs and all the other fundraising initiatives that we have to look at. It's going to spruce up our communities."
The allocations are based on population size, according to the report. Windsor received more than $221,000 as part of the initiative.