The Village of Clarksburg will not be getting a Business Improvement Association unless they ask for one.
At its committee of the whole meeting on April 3, The Blue Mountains council received a staff report about the possibility of a Business Improvement Association (BIA) for Clarksburg. At a previous meeting, council had requested some information and background history on the topic.
Clerk Corrina Giles explained that the BIA process would have to be community-initiated. Currently, Clarksburg has a Village Association that is completely independent of the town.
Giles said businesses in Clarksburg would have to request that the town look at the possibility of establishing a BIA. If that happened, council would then have to direct staff to survey the business and property owners to be affected by the implementation of a BIA about whether or not they wished to proceed. If enough said “no”, the process would not continue further.
Giles said the report was strictly for information purposes and no direction was required from council.
“Council asked for the background,” said Giles. “We do not need to address this again if no requests come forward.”
In 2013, the town went through the process after receiving a request from a group in Clarksburg. At that time, the possibility of a BIA was rejected.
The creation of a BIA in Clarksburg would see a board of directors selected with the mandate of setting a budget for beautification and special events in the community. A levy would then be charged to each property owner in the designed BIA area to fund the budget. The BIA area would be specifically defined by the town and would not impact residential properties.
Coun. Paula Hope noted that a BIA gains access to insurance coverage through the town’s policies, which could be a benefit for the local area.
The director of community services, Ryan Gibbons, explained that for any events held on town property in Clarksburg, the town requires proof of liability insurance.
Council voted to receive the report and took no further action.
