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April 20, 2017
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‘Diggin’ Downtown’ begins first phase Infrastructure project to take three years
Trent Severn brings Canadian harmonies
Editor
All-female trio famous for its patriotic, folksy tunes headlines upcoming Napanee show........................Page 11.
NDSS soccer sides off to strong start
Seth DuChene-Staff
Members of Greater Napanee and Lennox and Addington County councils, staff, contractors and downtown Napanee merchants gather Tuesday as construction crews get to work ‘Diggin’ Downtown’, a massive infrastructure project on Dundas Street. sulted with other communities that went through similar construction disruptions, and was able to ask the ‘right questions’ of project managers. “We weren’t so naive, and we might have been had we not (talked to other communities),” she said. “(The project managers) were very
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accommodating. They understand the situation of working with independent retailers — none of us downtown are multinationals and we’re not connected with ‘big box’.” She said that many downtown businesses have made or are making changes to allow for customers
to use a different entrance to their shops. Further, she says the BIA is making a point of publicizing the fact that, despite the disruptions, downtown merchants are still open for business.
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L&A County passes 2017 budget
Levy increase means ratepayers will pay 2.8 per cent more this year in property taxes .................Page 2.
BY SETH DUCHENE
And so it begins. Three years worth of downtown construction began on Tuesday as heavy machinery started tearing up a section of Dundas Street between Centre Street and Robert Street. The major infrastructure project — dubbed ‘Diggin’ Downtown’ — will take place in three phases during the construction season of each of the next three years. Both Lennox and Addington County and Greater Napanee are participating in the project. Not surprisingly, downtown merchants are concerned about what the downtown disruption will mean to their bottom line. “I think we all have an expectation that there’s definitely going to be some loss in sales. You can’t do construction like this and not have the impact,” said Downtown Napanee Business Improvement Area Chair Sonda Elliott. At the same time, Elliott says project stakeholders have done the homework necessary to minimize any losses. She says the BIA con-
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Junior and senior boys Golden Hawks teams victorious in KASSAA season openers...........................Page 13.
INDEX
Social .................................. 4 Op/Ed............................... 8/9 History.................................. 9 Business Directory.............10 Real Estate.........................15 Sports ................................21 Classifieds .........................23
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