River District Board Highlights: Election Timeline, Action Plan Refresh and Summer Events
River District members — commercial property owners and business tenants of the downtown district — will elect a new board of management on November 9, if more than eight candidates come forward.
The River District Board of Management met July 8 at City Hall, working through a slate of reports received for information alongside a presentation on the board's own fall election and a hands-on session to begin refreshing its multi-year action plan.
Fall election dates confirmed
The board heard a detailed walkthrough of the nomination and voting process for the River District Board of Management election, scheduled for Monday, November 9. Advance voting runs Saturday, November 7 from 3 to 6:30 p.m., and voting day runs 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Both take place at City Hall in the council chambers.
Eight of the board’s nine director seats are filled by a vote of River District members; the ninth is a council appointee. Nominations open Friday, August 28 and close at 2 p.m. Friday, September 25, and must be filed in person.
An election is only held if more than eight candidates come forward; if eight or fewer are certified, they are declared elected by acclamation.
Eligibility is narrower than a general municipal vote. Only those assessed for commercial property in the district, and their commercial or business tenants, can vote, and each member casts a single ballot regardless of how many properties they hold.
Residential tenants in the district are not eligible. Directors serve without pay, and the new term runs to November 14, 2030.
Action plan refresh begins with the board
Staff reintroduced the 2020 River District Action Plan and presented a report card on its four pillars — branding, management, experience development and promotion — before putting board members to work.
Members used stickers to mark which existing actions should continue and which have been completed or are no longer relevant, and added new ideas on notes.
The exercise was described as a pilot for wider engagement to come. Businesses and property owners will be invited to a session at Parkwood on July 29 at 5:30 p.m., followed by a meeting with social service agencies and community partners on a date still to be set, and a public survey through the city’s online engagement platform.
Staff said the four pillars remain relevant and that the update will focus on the actions beneath them.
Discussion touched on whether the plan would look the same if built from scratch today, and on making public input visible once it is collected. A board member asked that the feedback gathered through the process be released publicly.
Events, programming and finances
The board received updates on several initiatives.
A food truck at the market has been approved, pending an agreement and insurance requirements.
A ticketed prix-fixe “Dining on the Boardwalk” event, with courses from different River District vendors, is tentatively set for August 13 and would be sold through Eventbrite.
Window directional signage has been installed, and a downtown photo opportunity project is advancing to fabrication.
A tourism ambassador program under the “Locals Love It Here” banner is set to launch soon, recruiting businesses to act as information stops for visitors.
On finances, the board reported a gift certificate fund of $6,804, an operating fund of $8,574 and a business account of $172,614.
An officer from the police service’s downtown core unit reported 138 hours of foot patrol in the River District in May and 121 hours in June, plus 30 hours of bicycle patrol.
Correspondence
The board received the city manager’s third “Fostering a Vibrant River District” report as information, along with a resolution from the County of Prince Edward asking the province for authority to tax long-term vacant commercial storefronts, and a list of newly licensed businesses.
See the agenda package for this meeting and the video recording for more information.
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Interesting. And re: "Window directional signage has been installed," I saw a brown paper sign in the old DIA office window, listing some businesses by category (not by names) and it wasn't accurate. Is that what they mean by signage?