The downtown building owner's request to install 2 TV advertisement signs on a wall of the Legends of Fazio building at the north east corner of Athol and Simcoe St was TURNED DOWN by a close 6-5 vote at the Feb 22, 2021 Council meeting.
Voting NO to the TV signs Bob Chapman, Derek Giberson, Jane Hurst, Tito-Dante Marimpietri, Brad Marks, Brian Nicholson; Voting Yes to the signs: John Gray, Rick Kerr, Rosemary McConkey, John Neal, Mayor Dan Carter.
The owner of the building made a delegation at the beginning of the meeting, indicating he has 11 tenant businesses in the downtown that are interested in advertising on the screens.
I had hoped to ask during the Q&A session after his 5 minute delegation if he was amenable to a compromise of 1 instead of 2 screens. A compromise might be the approach considering when this matter was before Committee Feb 8th the vote was split 3 to 3. However, as Mayor Carter includes the time the delegation takes to answer a Councillor's questions in the 5 minutes Councillors are allowed to ask questions, the Mayor ended my questions before I could ask this question.
It would good if there is another opportunity in the near future to investigate this matter further, as in my opinion, the public and downtown businesses would benefit from a screen that increases awareness of activities and services in the downtown core.