Blind River residents had the opportunity to get a view of the town’s past, present and future during a Zoom community meeting Tuesday night.
Billed as a Public Info Session, the two-hour presentation included explanations about several local projects and plans, including one to deal with the town's debt, current health issues, and a look at ways to move ahead in this era of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Blind River Mayor Sally Hagman served as moderator for the virtual event, presented via Zoom.
She introduced Kristy Harper, Chief Nursing Officer of Algoma Public Health who in turn introduced presenters Epidemiologist Amanda Perri and Public Health Nurse Allison McFarlane who works in the substance portfolio of the health unit.
The Algoma Public Health staffers identified the risk factors associated with opioid abuse in the area and produced statistics indicating the opioid problem in Algoma has gotten worse during the COVID-19 pandemic, much more so than in other parts of the province. People in the age group from 25 to 44 are the most affected.
The health unit presenters also looked at a number of harm reduction strategies and treatment options including the Naxolone program.
Graeme Lowry, President and CEO of North Shore Power Group said the company showed the second-best financial results in its history in 2021.
It was the first time he had spoken publicly to the people of the community since 2019.
The power corporation operates in the vast area from Ottawa in the east to Rainy River in the west, Sudbury, Manitoulin and Blind River in the north and London and Waterloo in southern Ontario.
A large part of its business involves projects that produce electrical power which is sold to Hydro One.
They include the solar division which pŕoduces 34 megawatts of power in projects involving 49 company-owned initiatives, some of them on leased land.
The company's second business is in solar equipment leasing and the third is renewable energy lending. The fourth business is construction services. The fifth is maintenance and operating services.
"We've grown into a pretty big business. We were really busy between 2011 and 2018," said Lowry.
They also look after three power projects on the Blind River which also protect the town in terms of watershed management.
Lowry provided an overview of the initiatives of North Shore Power Group and subsidiary Omni Conversion Technologies which takes municipal waste and turns it into useful byproducts of energetic gas and inert slag.
He explained they are working together on eliminating the town’s debt with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Lowry discussed a contract with business interests in California and debt restructuring agreement with a company in Zurich, Switzerland, among other things.
"If Omni meets its commitment under this agreement, the combined repayments of principal and interest income would be sufficient to completely repay our loan from the town (Blind River), and thus for the town to completely repay Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation," he said. "So that is a big 'if' but that is their commitment to pay us out on our investment. We've got our loan down to half of what we originally started (with)."
He noted North Shore Power Group borrowed 49 and a half million dollars from the Town of Blind River, which was the money the town got from Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Mayor Hagman commended Blind River Chief Financial Officer Katie Scott, "who did all the reasoning with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in order to make prompt payments on our loan and substantially knock down the balloon.payment."
Karen Bittner, Blind River's Director of Facilities and Community Services outlined a number of local success stories.
Taxpayers were also provided an overview of 2022 by town treasurer, Sue Dent.
Director of Protective Services and Fire Chief Ken Raymond discussed Blind River's 72-hour preparedness plan in anticipation of the next emergency.
He said in the event of an emergency, it may take some time for first responders to arrive.
Therefore, if possible, each family should prepare to be self-sufficient for 72 hours and be able to function after an emergency event.
"Approximately 550 thousand vehicles pass through our town each year. We could have incidents in Blind River involving dangerous goods and our passengers," he said.
He also explained the importance of plotting avenues of escape in the event normal routes are not available.