Firing on all 4 cylinders
In 2022, I was the lone Township Councilor on the CF Economic Development Committee and, by extension, Chair of the Sharbot Lake Downtown Revitalization Group. Over the course of a couple of years, and thanks to grants from the Province of Ontario, we created a plan that we felt could serve as a guide for building up the local economy in the village. I am proud of the work we did and am proud to see that four years later, the Township still uses it as a reference.
If you go to the Township website and look up the minutes of the Sept 13, 2022 Council meeting and go directly to page 299, you will see where I led off discussion on the Committee about taking the work we did in Sharbot Lake and building it out to other villages and hamlets. In fact, if you go to the agendas and minutes posted for the Economic Development Committee throughout 2022.
Don’t take my word for it. You can see the references for yourself. One of them is at: https://centralfrontenac.community.highbond.com/home/public/document/11a801f3-bae7-4fe3-8dcf-bac32a56b39c
My reasoning was this - create 'Community Revitalization Committees' for each village and settlement area - one for Parham / Tichborne, one for Mountain Grove, one for Arden/Henderson, one for Godfrey / Piccadilly and - yes - one for Sharbot Lake. Each committee would include local businesses, service clubs, lake associations in the vicinity, recreation committees and other groups - like Villages Beautiful or the Parham Fair Board. Get everybody in the room talking about how to grow the local economy. Ideas could include CIP grant support for beyond Sharbot Lake, supporting existing events and starting new ones, and even suggesting changes to our bylaws that would spur business creation.
My view is that CF's economic engine has 4 cylinders - one for each district - and if only one piston is firing, we're going nowhere.
When I was a kid, Parham had a school, two stores, a car dealership and gas pumps. Tichborne had two stores, both with gas pumps. Today, Parham General Store is the only one left. There will be those who say that people can simply go to Sharbot Lake for what they need - but for some it is just as convenient to go to Verona. That means money and growth for South Frontenac.
I am not going to tell you that starting ‘Community Revitalization Committees’ in each village and hamlet is 100% guaranteed to work. But I know that what we are doing now isn’t working. Drive through Tichborne and look at the former Goodfellow’s Store if you want proof.
The proposal that I brought to the Committee is here for you to read. If I have the privilege to join Central Frontenac Council in October, I hope to pick up where this was left off four years ago.
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