Christmas is already top of mind downtown Timmins.
The Downtown Timmins BIA has picked up $80,000 from the city's portion of the municipal accommodation tax (MAT) fund to buy new Christmas lighting to replace the snowflakes. The item was approved by Timmins council on May 28.
"This is not ... a Cadillac version of Christmas decor. This is an efficient and and beautifying element that will benefit downtown Timmins but all of the City of Timmins and certainly help hopefully enhance our Christmas season in downtown," said Coun. Andrew Marks, who sits on the BIA board.
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Coun. Cory Robin, who is the BIA executive director, declared a conflict of interest and left the room during the discussion.
Each of the lighting pieces is over $1,000 and there are 60 poles, plus shipping and taxes, said Marks, explaining why the request is for a lump sum after a motion was tabled to spread the funding over two years.
"To me this boils down to a City of Timmins cost to have a downtown that looks lively and vibrant," said Coun. Steve Black.
Across Ontario, he said, the main attractions are decorated during the holidays. In Timmins, he said there should be similar lighting in downtown Porcupine and other important areas and asked if the BIA could donate its old lights to the city to reuse.
"Anything that can be recycled or reused absolutely could be made available. It is limited. These are secondhand ... the ones we have now are secondhand purchases from another BIA that purchased them years back just to give you the history," said Marks.
The city has been collecting the MAT — a four-per-cent charge on hotels, motels and other short-term accommodations — since 2019. Half of the money goes to city coffers and half is redistributed into the community for tourism activities. The BIA cash is from the money in the city's coffers.
After the meeting, the Downtown Timmins BIA sent out a news release extending its gratitude for the cash.
"Downtown Timmins is now in the process of determining which lights to purchase. The board of management of Downtown Timmins will review what options are available with preference towards light designs that are seasonal versus Christmas specific, allowing them to stay up longer into the season and brighten up Your Downtown Timmins," reads the news release.
