Chatham-Kent Mayor Randy Hope addressed a full ballroom at the Bradley's Convention Centre and promised a prosperous future for the municipality.
The Mayor's Annual Municipal Update was held Thursday morning. The event is, in many ways, a "state of the municipality" address to inform the community on the progress the municipality has made, along with plans for the future.
During Hope's 30-minute speech, he touched on subjects like debt, population growth, and education. The mayor really emphasized the economy and bringing business closer to Hwy. 401.
"Because if we don't and traffic continues to grow, you will be spending more money for a new bridge," Hope said. "Traffic is going from south to north all the time. Instead, let's make sure we have services to the south side of Chatham and services to the north."
According to Hope, creating an entertainment and transportation hub centered around the new casino on the Navistar property will draw in new businesses. On top of the casino, there are plans for a new twin-pad arena, multiple baseball diamonds, and a new Via Rail station.
"The other things we're doing is looking at our municipal transit system and Greyhound. Everything becomes a central location for people to move from point A to point B."
Hope added nothing is set in stone yet as the municipality is still in negotiations with Navistar. He added CK wouldn't be able to afford the project on its own and is in talks with the federal and provincial governments about helping to fund it.
Another way Hope plans to draw in business is by creating 150,000 sq ft of factory space.
"That's not one building. We're getting demands for 50,000 sq ft, so we're trying to develop a strategy. We own land out at the Bloomfield Business Park, so is there something we can do to make it more attractive and mitigate the amount of risk? We want these factories to be just about ready to meet the needs for the future job or investment opportunities," said Hope.
Agriculture was another key point Hope addressed. The mayor said Chatham-Kent needs to be at the forefront of agriculture in the country, because it isn't just Western Canada producing for the country.
"They don't grow the vegetables we grow. They don't grow 74 different products on their fields like we do," said Hope.
Hope said when the federal government is talking about food export, Chatham-Kent needs to be involved. The mayor added companies in other countries looking for product don't even need to buy farmland here. He said all companies have to do is provide contracts and the farmers here will fill the orders.
