The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Employees continue to occupy parking spots along Main Street, making it more difficult for uptown businesses to compete, the Chamber of Commerce heard yesterday. Ryan Watt, manager of Pharmasave, told the chamber members that this is "a serious problem" and asked for ideas on how the situation might be remedied. "It's time to come up with a solution," he said during the noon hour meeting at the Friendship Centre Restaurant. The City of Flin Flon deactivated the uptown parking meters in January 2003 as a way to help Main Street compete with the Flintoba Shopping Centre, which has never charged for parking. Since then, concern has been expressed from some businesses, particularly those on the southern portion of Main Street, that workers are taking away a number of spots from potential customers. Watt suggested one solution might be to allocate a certain number of spaces off Main Street for each business. He said he doesn't understand why certain curb segments uptown are yellow, adding that removing the paint could create a handful of new spaces. Flin Flon City Councillor Tom Therien, also present at the meeting, told Watt that the City has been looking at instituting two-hour parking on Main Street to address the problem. The system would involve the by-law enforcement officer monitoring the vehicles by marking the tires with chalk, fining motorists who park longer than the two-hour limit, he said. Therien commented that human nature contributes to the problem, as motorists tend to want to park very close to their destination. See 'Employees' P.# Con't from P.# When one member suggested that it's up to the businesses to ensure the spots remain open, Watt agreed but said some businesses communicate that to their employees better than others. Past-president Dave Kendall said there isn't much incentive for employees not to use the spots unless otherwise told by their bosses. After their discussion, the chamber members voted to support Watt in his efforts to have the issue addressed. Highlights of other matters from the chamber meeting include: President Doug O'Brien welcomed Tom Goodman as the chamber's new HBMS representative. Goodman is the vice-president of Technical Services and Human Resources for the Company. President O'Brien noted that the chamber will put on a bannock breakfast on July 2 as part of Main Street Days. It was noted that the next chamber meeting will be July 27 at the usual location, the Friendship Centre Restaurant, at the usual time, noon hour.
