June 2018

198 199 UNITED COUNTIES OF STORMONT, DUNDAS, & GLENGARRY, ONTARIO in the area is its prime location - an hour from downtown Montreal, an hour and change from Ottawa, and close to the U.S. border, SDG housing prices are lower than the average in Ontario. “We have the amenities of a rural area and small ur- ban, as well,” adds Macleod. “Highway 401 bisects SDG in an east/west direction, everything south of the 401 is more or less a development corridor where we have a large portion of our population. I’m also Mayor of South Glengarry and we have 30 km. of waterfront on the St. Lawrence River. It’s a well-populated area with a lot of high-end housing and buildings.” Peter Young, on staff at South Stormont, says, “Municipalities in the upper and lower tiers are working on community improvement plans. In- vesting in main street improvements, increasing tourism (looking at hotels and B&Bs), encourag- ing people to visit, and encouraging business- es and municipalities to improve their look. In South Stormont, many of our major businesses have done expansions and renovations, and the municipality helped to support that. North Glen- garry has done quite a bit related to heritage and public art, making their communities more attrac- tive and interesting for tourists, and stimulating residential growth.” Each municipality either has a development plan or is working on a plan, and most are fo- cused on downtown revitalization. Usually, they offer a 50 percent matching grant, depending on the municipality. For example, in North Glengarry, your proposal may require a heritage look. Each township or municipality has different criteria and incentives. Young adds, “In South Stormont, almost every business in our downtown plazas has done some kind of revitalization. And we’ve seen new seniors’ homes and development along the edge of our downtowns.” SDG CEO, Tim Simpson, points out, “Regionally, we’re also developing and implementing incen- tives that are focused on broader goals - things such as encouraging agritourism, grouped accom- modations such as B&Bs, brownfield redevel- opment, and trails. It’s a broad package to com- plement local efforts and incentivize businesses and private owners to improve their property to generate increased tax dollars and job growth. It’s all part and parcel; we’re working together on a comprehensive package that will be attractive to the business sector, locally and regionally.” Many of the smaller hamlets have challenges with water and wastewater. New residents and businesses want to be on municipal water ser- vices and not all areas have it. Another challenge is cell phone and internet connectivity. The East- ern Ontario Warden’s Caucus is putting forth pro- posals to address that gap. That, in itself, would offer far more opportunity in rural Ontario than is there right now. School closures in the past year are affecting the smaller communities, as young families don’t