No clear mandate from Melfort business to move on BID proposal

A meeting to discuss establishing a business improvement district in Melfort ended with no clear mandate for the Melfort Business Revitalization Corporation to continue – but there will be more meetings to discuss the concept.

A business improvement district could do many of the tasks done by the corporation’s Main Street program, which had its funding from the province cut: promote local business, host events to draw more foot traffic into local establishments, co-ordinate grants for business improvements and encourage downtown revitalization.

The district would have the authority to charge business owners a mandatory fee so it can pay for its activities. It was that caveat that caused some discussion among the approximately 20 business owners at the Oct. 25 meeting.

“It’s something that the business community needs to say, ‘yep, this is a great idea, we’re going to go forward with it,’ and tonight there sounded like there was a little curiosity, a little bit of intrigue, but no firm commitment,” said Tim Hoenmans, president of the corporation.

The corporation is suggesting a business improvement district be established because it is looking for new sources of revenue to support its activities.

There’s two ways the fee could be applied: either as a flat fee for each commercial property owner, or as a percentage of their property’s value.

There’s also a third funding option: the city could fund the district out of their general revenues. It’s something that Nipawin does, but Brent Lutz, a member of the corporation’s board, said the city showed it wasn’t going to take that path when it decided to follow the province in cutting some funding from the Main Street program to meet fiscal challenges.

“The whole idea of the BID [business improvement district] is to gain the authority to charge for a levy, so to create a BID and to fund it by general revenue seems to be counterproductive.”

To go ahead with creating a business improvement district, a basic plan with goals, objectives and a proposed budget would have to be created, the boundaries of the district would have to be set – the corporation is suggesting the entirety of Melfort, and city council would have to pass a bylaw after a public consultation in council chambers.

There’s approximately 300 businesses in Melfort. Hoenmans said he hopes the business owners will discuss what they’ve learned with others and that more attend a follow-up meeting on Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Melfort Legion.

“We want to make sure that we have everyone’s input – or as close to everyone’s input as we can get with this before proceeding,” he said “We’re not going to stiff-arm something through here. We’re going to try to make sure as much input as possible before we proceed.”

A follow-up informational meeting about creating a business improvement district in Melfort will be held at 7 p.m. on Nov. 14 at the Melfort Legion.