Business View Magazine | March 2018

136 be stationed.The city’s technologydepartment is al- waysmonitoring and upgrading services.Aspring 2017 flood necessitated the community to declare a state of emergency.When the emergency systemwas activat- ed,it was soon obvious where help and upgrades were needed. “This was a good lesson for us,”says theMayor, adding,“We partner with the county for manyof our services,like the contracts for road services,etc.They get the contracts,we share the good prices with them. When it comes to corporate culture,we’re still a small town.You can phone theMayor anytime in his office; myhome phone number is in the phone book.People leavememessages and I always respond,becausewe like to be accessible.Theyalways feel better when they call theMayor or their Councillor and get answers.” Increasing the number of lanes on themain road fromClarence-Rockland toOttawa is top priority.Ac- cording toDesjardins,“We’re constantlygoing after the federal and provincial governments for capital invest- ments.Our concern right nowis a four-lane.We’ve got a bus service,but the biggest complaint is they’re stuck inmorning traffic.The federal government is pushing for anHOV (HighOccupancyVehicle) lane,which is good for our transit service.Andwe’ve been given $40 million by the province of Ontario to go aheadwith the four-lane highway.The environmental study just came out and has been approved by the province.It covers right up to the four-laneQueensway inOttawa.The LRT (Light Rail Transit),when finished,would go to the edge of Orleans.Wewould bring our bus service right to that LRT,making it much easier to get to downtown Ottawa because you’d have no traffic to fight with.” Strategically situated in theOttawa corridor,close to Quebec andU.S.borders,Clarence-Rockland is a prime location to live and do business.It officiallycalls itself CLARENCE-ROCKLAND, ONTARIO