Downtown-study funding welcomed
Business Town will pay nearly double previous commitment for consultants' report
SUSSEX - The town of Sussex will pay nearly double its previous commitment to a study to revitalize the downtown, but councillors didn't mince words Monday night when they said business owners also have to "pull their bootstraps up" to help create their own success.
Coun. Tim Wilson explained town council was approached by the Downtown Business Association late last year for support for a nearly $50,000 strategic plan to return business to the commercial area.
Council earlier agreed to spend $18,000 toward a new vision. Council unanimously supported a motion this week to add another $14,000 to the study, for a total of nearly $32,500.
The business association will contribute $5,000, Downtown New Brunswick has agreed to a $2,000 grant, and Human Resources Development Canada is funding the remaining $10,000.
The study will be done by Drummond Consulting and is expected to incorporate strategies the consultant is also developing for the owners of the downtown Sussex Mall to encourage more business.
Downtown Business Association president Don Dobbin is thrilled with council's pledge of more money and regards the study as just the thing to point businesses towards success.
"We're very pleased," Dobbin said.
"Everything seems to be in place, so we will get going on this real quick.
"The study is overdue. I am sure we will see a lot of good things come from it."
Mayor Ralph Carr said while there will likely be criticism over the price council is willing to put toward the study, he believes developing a strategy for the downtown is key to ensuring a well-rounded, prosperous town.
"This study is a very important thing that has to be done," he said. "We had to step up to the plate. We need a vision for our downtown. We have been missing that plan to move that area of town forward.
"Yes, we could spend the money on our trails or recreation or pavement ... there's always something else that has to be done. But we felt this is vital to the community if we are to grow in all areas."
The downtown commercial area has been struggling as the west end of town booms with new retail developments, many of them that recently existed downtown.
The move by Canadian Tire this summer to relocate to the west end was considered the straw that broke the camel's back, keeping more traffic from downtown, Wilson said.
"We tend to fixate. There's been a lot of discussion about the west side of Sussex," he said.
And no doubt retail has prospered there, largely because it is a prime location, Wilson added.
"We are very pleased "¦ large businesses have invested in the west side," he said, "but at the end of the day, our heart and who we are is the downtown."
For two years now, Wilson said, downtown businesses have been clearing out, leaving the smaller mom-and-pop shops to struggle.
By and large, he explained, the Sussex Mall is vacant. Meanwhile, the Gateway Mall at the other end of town is booming with the addition of the new Canadian Tire and Sobeys, which, a year ago, exited downtown.
"Canadian Tire vacating has made it much more evident the downtown core is failing and we need to do something," Wilson said.
The study will not only look at what the town can do to improve parking, lights and other infrastructure, but also outline ways for small businesses to attract shoppers again.
"I do not want this study to be published and all the onus be on (us), as a municipality" to take action, Wilson said. The study must give business houses information so they take the initiative to better the way they do business, he feels.
Coun. Gary Fulton agreed, and said he is not interested in a study that rehashes downtown infrastructure needs alone.
"We have spent hundreds and thousands of dollars in the downtown the past two decades to ensure it succeeds," he said, "(but) downtown business believes there's a missing spark. For whatever reason, they're not selling their product."
Fulton said he is "very disappointed" that a study determined to be so important to the private businesses didn't generate more dollars from them for the study.
"We end up with taxpayers footing the bill," he said.
Deputy Mayor Marc Thorne called the large commitment of funds to the study "a major gesture."
And when the study is done, he wants to see more unity among the downtown business owners.
He said the Downtown Business Association meeting turnouts are poor and reflects what he sees as a divided business community.
"I think there are a lot of individual agendas as you go up and down the street," Thorne said, adding that some of the long-time business operators have been there for years and have their own ideas how to make a buck.
"We're going to have to try to help retailers become more cohesive. I don't mean to be unfair, but I don't see that cohesiveness. I certainly hope that changes."
Wilson said council has not been sitting on its heels in terms of helping downtown. He said the town contributed $100,000 to the popular mural project, which is concentrated in the town core, and also helped the farmers market open downtown a year ago, drawing new visitors on Fridays.
Council also secured land behind the Royal Bank recently and will build a covered bridge linking the downtown to the 8th Hussars Sports Centre, where large crowds gather every year for big events like the town's giant flea market and the Atlantic International Balloon Fiesta.
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