ABA responds to Town's Action Plan 2010

In Response to the Town's Action Plan 2010 we would like to comment that we feel the Town is on the right track in implementing such a plan to achieve positive and constructive goal oriented results after the four year mandate given the council by the residents of Innisfil.

Innisfil and many other towns now share a common thread since many of the towns now are comprised of many small towns within a town.

This common thread poses many challenges for council seeing they now have many more groups of people with varying interests, desires and requirements.

In the action plan it was noted that transportation within Innisfil itself will need to be addressed. Yes, absolutely. We are building a beautiful state of the art recreational facility with no imminent transportation plans. Parents who are commuters would like to know there is safe and reliable transportation to and from the Rec. Centre for their children.

We have associations and numerous groups raising monies to help offset the cost of this wonderful facility but if no one but those who's parents are available to drive them can attend, what good is this complex if is not being properly used.

Another suggestion is a safe bicycle/ sidewalk path from Alcona and Stroud and of course safe sidewalks all over Innisfil.

One of the main reasons we wanted this Rec Centre is to provide our young community alternatives other than hanging around the plazas.

Solid, consistent transportation will help us fulfill the purpose of having this complex built. If much of our community have transportation restrictions, and many for which the facility was designed, it's full potential is not realized.

Another one of the main items we would like to see more input from the town is in reference to the town's transportation needs to other job markets.

We noted there was absolutely no mention of the GO Train project in the Action Plan 2010.

We feel the GO Train would certainly relieve a major portion of the unemployment that Innisfil now experiences providing our community a means to find and obtain suitable jobs and occupations.

We understand that one of the Town's main mandates is to provide an increased job to resident ratios. This is admirable and welcomed and an absolute requirement. Having said this though we need to look to the present and not just the future to address this need.

Again having convenient and affordable transportation to major retail, industrial and commercial areas is needed now for our residents in order to provide needed income to our community. If we don't do our part our people will move to major population areas in order to find the required work.

We also understand that GO Train want to locate their station further south from the major growth area of Innisfil which is Alcona. We are not sure why these decisions are made but an informed community would go along way in helping the town reach their objectives to get the GO Station where it belongs, Alcona.

Our closest major employment source is Barrie. Why not provide some type of transportation link to Barrie's transportation system.

It doesn't have to be large scale at the beginning but at least an attempt at doing something for our community to reach a more plentiful job market.

Another major issue which affects many aspects of the town is the difficult time the community is given with regard to building permits. We have spoken to some of the town's councillors and they readily acknowledge this is a major problem but only minor changes have been implemented. Costs for permits continue to escalate as well as major time loss by home owners and the business community.

This needs to be pursued further and given the highest priority. Until these issues get resolved, there may be countless businesses turning to other cities and towns with a more streamlined process to open their businesses there. This also may cause businesses/ residents to be less inclined to obtain permits resulting in below code construction/renovations to homes and /or businesses.

The Alcona Business Association realizes that you have been given a difficult task to liaise the many current and pending aspects of such a thriving and growing community.

We applaud what you have done and what you plan to do. Please do not take this as negative criticism but as positive critiquing.

Thank you for acknowledging publicly the work the Alcona Business Association has done to affect positive change in our beautiful town. We live and work here because we love Alcona and Innisfil.

We thank you and welcome any future comment you require from us from our distinct and varied perspective. We wish you complete success in leading us into a prosperous future.

Sincerely,

Richard Ellis, President The Alcona Business Association