WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 'A978, PAGE 13 N ew program to help small town cores At Seric Tis1 A new program to. help amali Ontario communties initiate improvements to their core areas bas been announced by Housing Minister Claude-Bennett. Called the Main Street Revitalization Program, il will be complementary to the province's successful Downtown Revitalization Program, but is designed to help communitiets 'wîh a population of, 30,000 or less. (The Downtown Revitalization Program is aimed at municipalities with a population of up to 125,000.) '1We see this new pro- gram spurring communities 10 belp themselves by taking advantage of existing Business Improve- ment Area (BIA) legisiation 10 upgrade their down- towns," Bennett said. The BIA concept is a devioe wbereby merchanîs and business people can designate and tax them- selves for improvemenîs to streetscapes and reiaîed facilities. Since smaller towns often lack the capability 10 gener- ate the front-end funding necessary for initiating improvement projects under the BIA approach, the provincial government wil l provide iow-interest boans of up t0 8150,000 to help the community im- prove and beautify mun- icipally-owned lands and building in eligible areas. Bennett explained that the province had several objectives in mind in proceeding with, the pro- gram. "In the first place we want 10 encourage and support downtown im- provement projects started by municipalities and by business improvement areas in these commun- ities," he said. "We also. wish te pro. mole co-ordination and joint planning of com- prehensive downtown improvement projecîs by the municipalities them- selves, by business groups and by the community ai large. " Fnaly, we want to demonstrate provincial commitment and support for the existence of viable and attractive downtowns in smali Ontario commun- How a Business Improvement Area IBIA) can contribute to the attractiveness of a municipality's established downtown is illustrated by the smart lamp standards and îree plantings in this St. Thomas BIA. Bennett stressed that tbis new program was designed to belp small communities help them- selves.- "~Tbis new Main -Street approacb should belp over- corne*local resistance because of the inability to obtain long-termi funding," be said. "<Once tbat funding is provided, on-going commit- ments can be obtained from the participants and pro- vincial, fun ding wouid no longer be necessary. This and occupancy standards bylaw; --municipal council Commit- ment and public support for the revitalization pro. posa]; --an active business improvement area under section 361 'of the Mun- icipal Act as weil as a downtown'project proposed under section 361(1) of the Municipal Act; --demonstrated financial and administrative r- sources.- Eligible costs include improvements and beautif- ication of municipally- owned lands, buildings and other structures in an eligible business improve- ment area, and for the approach should keep pro- vincial funding at reason- able levels." In addition 10 having a project which conformns with provincial polîcies, a municipality, in order to be eligibie for assistance, must have: --a population of 30,000 or less at the date of formai application; --an approved officiai plan; --a property maintenance provision of parking. (in ail cases, these aspects would be additions 10 on- FHAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT A.CAREER IN REAL ESTATE? .and done nothing about it BLAIR BUCHANAN 1 wiII give you an1 my time to try to1 hour or more of help you decide. Bennelit said that in reviewing applications his ministry- woul d base decisions on local need, project ýiabilîy, the degree of municipal council commitment and local response, timing of impie. mentation and conformity with provincial policies. Guidelines on the, pro- gra m are now being forwarded to ail Éligible municipalities and, ministry staff are now prepared to discuss administration witlh local officiais. going expenses of* the municipality ai large.) The maximum provincial funding will be $150,000 with no more than îwo- thirds of the funding eligible for parking pro- - j ects. IM~A Total provincial recovery for the boan would be 110 per cent over a maximum 10.year period. - This approach enables a bus. iness improvement areà to A OPN earmark a portion of ils TI-E MEN 1«T approved annual budget for KES the repayment of -the pro. vincial funds. Deadline for applicat- ions for 1978-79 provincial funding is Jan. 31, 1979. This date was selected 10 enable interested business improvement areas deveiop > IPT4ELETTQ&-P5 IN sound proposais and 10 HOSPIC-Fl.>RE T3Ar-ÇLL. have the necessary budgets PITrd-ER approved by local counicils. After that date, munic-j ipal, applications will be reviewed on a first corne, first served basis subject to the availability of provincialQ ) funds. The Main Street Program has a total budgetli of $5 million until Mar. 31, ___________ 1981. Travel1 to..e Orlando (with car)........ from ~9 Canc.un----------... ...... from $2"9 Acapulco.------------------ from $339* Freeport ................... from $259* ~~ Wo r Wx m. 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