Business

Town council will hold off doing anything about the vacant Rainy Lake Hotel until a local task force makes its recommendation.
In a report received by council at its budget meeting Monday, Chief Building Official Rick Hallam noted that while the sale, remediation, and restoration of the building may be an option, it has not gleaned much interest so far.

The 2012 preliminary capital budget will be a lean one, having been cut by more than half since the last meeting.
Town council received an updated preliminary capital budget Monday, which had been trimmed by $4.6 million since the Jan. 16 committee of the whole meeting.
Mayor and council then reduced it by a further $230,000, bringing the budget total down to about $4.5 million.

NDP natural resources critic Sarah Campbell said the McGuinty government should be held accountable for the loss of jobs in the forestry industry in Northern Ontario.
Terrace Bay Pulp, of the Buchanan group of companies, is now for sale following a three-month suspension of operations, which makes it unlikely for the company to re-open at the end of January as initially announced.

Fort Frances Coun. John Albanese was re-elected chair of the Northwestern Health Unit’s board of health for the 10th-consecutive year at a meeting Jan. 20 in Dryden.
Coun. Albanese said he’s looking forward to working with the board and management in 2012, noting that for an eighth year, the levy to area municipalities will remain frozen at $54.43 per capita.

MTO jobs to be cut
Come this summer, international company Transfield Services will be responsible for provincial highway maintenance in the Rainy River and Kenora districts, which will result in job cuts to Ministry of Transportation staff but also possibly create opportunities for contractors, suppliers, and those seeking employment.

Ontario is supporting property owners who install renewable energy technologies by improving property tax assessment policies for them.
The changes will provide greater clarity by creating additional categories for property tax assessment based on the size and location of energy generation.

Many local ICI customers can expect to see their water bills rise because newly-installed water meters will mean more accurate water usage readings.
Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown told council Monday night the instalment of new waters meters for industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) customers in Fort Frances is almost complete, with only 24 more to go.

With a second phase of reconstruction scheduled to take place on Third Street East this summer, the town is planning to tear up the south sidewalk on the 300 block (between Portage and Victoria Avenue).

While few would argue economic times have been better, one positive indicator is that new vehicle sales were up here in 2011.
Nick Beyak, owner of Sunset Country Ford, noted the number of new vehicles registered in the Fort Frances market area, which stretches west to Rainy River, north to Nestor Falls, and east to Atikokan, was about eight percent higher than in 2010.

The Fort Frances Chamber is putting together a new business directory, which it aims to have ready by the annual Home and Leisure show here on the first weekend of May.