Members of community groups and businesses met June 8 to discuss the state of Main Street.
The meeting, arranged by the City of Flin Flon and Flin Flon RCMP saw representatives from both groups, as well as the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Committee, Regional Economic Development Committee and local businesses attend.
The meeting was initially announced at a chamber meeting in May. The focus of the meeting was originally to find ways to curtail loitering along Main Street.
Few details about suggestions or ideas raised at the meeting have been made public.
“It was more about comfort levels and ability to conduct good faith business practices on Main Street,” said Dianne Russell, past president of the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce. Russell represented the chamber at the meeting.
“There was a lot of brainstorming by people around the meeting, personal comfort levels on Main Street, what is allowed and what isn’t allowed based on bylaws or legalities, whether it’s from the municipality or the province or RCMP,” she said.
“It was constructive. There was good communication and partnerships struck. Suggestions came out of this that are both short term and long term. We didn’t want to just focus on long-term – we wanted to affect some positive outcomes this summer.”
No firm commitments to action have yet been made.
“From my perspective, I’d like to check on everything before I start talking about anything. I don’t want to set up expectations that can’t be met,” said Mayor Cal Huntley, who attended the meeting.
Huntley did say that RCMP have agreed to increase presence in the uptown and Main Street areas.
“They have certainly agreed to more of a presence in the uptown area to help allay some of the concerns that are out there,” he said.
More discussions will be held later, likely in the fall.
“We will, at some point in time after we’ve explored some of these potential opportunities, provide feedback to the group. That will mean another meeting,” said Huntley.
