Finally, BIA has SmartCentre’s $25,000

LPOA Board Members with Cheque
From left, Grant Allardyce and Trae Zammit, BIA co-chairs, and treasurer Stephen Betts, and LPOA board members Carol Burtin Fripp, co-chair, Agnes Vermes, treasurer, and Geoff Kettel, co-chair. Photo: Will Fripp

A $25,000 cheque has been handed over to Bayview Business Improvement Area (BIA) in partial settlement from SmartCentres Corporation. The largesse was initially given to Leaside Property Owners’ Association, which fought for some money on behalf of local merchants, and held until Bayview BIA was officially formed. The money was part of the LPOA’s settlement with SmartCentres North, ending the fight against the shopping mall being built between Vanderhoof and Wicksteed.

Christmas lights are now being considered for Bayview Ave. This plan comes after a group of hardly souls swept and weeded the busy shopping area on Saturday, Oct. 3  “We had 25-plus very happy people getting down on their hands and knees, and (they) collected about 30 bags of garbage,” said Trae Zammit of Smokin’ Cigar, and chairman of Bayview Leaside BIA. “It was a great little kickstart for greater plans.” These will include a marketing plan, a website, and a BIA presence on Twitter and Facebook.

Do Leasiders like wine? A cashier at Bayview’s LCBO store diplomatically wouldn’t give  figures, but added with a laugh, “Leasiders like to entertain a lot – let’s leave it at that.”

Six “distracted drivers” were recently spotted among 100 cars travelling south on Bayview in an informal survey. Texting, or using a cellphone or smartphone (one female driver applied makeup), even at a traffic light, can cost a driver a fine of between $490 and $1,000 if convicted, plus three demerit points.

An agitated man yelling profanities was stopped recently by police on Hanna, near Parkhurst. “I’ll soak this car in blood,” he shouted when restrained and put in one of four police cruisers on the scene. The irate man said he was upset, in part, because an officer “took my car keys”.

More than $670,000 was pledged by St. Anselm’s parishioners in the Family of Faith campaign. That’s $90,000 over the goal. Money is still coming in.

Raymond and Carmel Gork have hit a milestone: their Leaside Paint Centre has been in business on Bayview for 10 years. But that’s not the full story. By other calculations, they’ve sold paints for 36 years, ever since they took over Allens Home Hardware in 1979, and the store can calculate eight decades. The Gorks decided to concentrate on Benjamin Moore products in 2005, a line of premier paint that Gord Davies, a previous hardware merchant at the location, began to sell nearly 80 years ago.  “In those days a quart cost about $1.50,” said Jake Duursma, a paint specialist, who has worked in the store for nearly 30 years.