Timmins Mayor Michelle Boileau delivered a state-of-the-city speech Wednesday during a luncheon hosted by the Timmins Chamber of Commerce.
The address dealt with many of the key issues in the city that have been discussed for years.
Before Boileau talked about serious matters, she gave credit to city staff and workers and shared statistics.
Last year, she said Service Timmins took more than 37,000, calls, bylaw handled more than 2,600 cases and nearly 1,000 potholes were filled.
“So how are we doing?” Boileau said.
“I’d say we’re doing all right.”
This spring, she said the city will develop a parcel of land in hopes the private sector will take over and build homes.
“So it’ll be the earthworks,” Boileau said.
“It’ll be putting in the linear infrastructure, the pipes and sewers. It’ll be the roads, the sidewalks, curb works -- all of that kind of stuff that needs to be done.”
She said Timmins needs around 40 more physicians, including 15 family doctors and 25 specialists. If Timmins doesn’t offer a cash incentive to attract them, she said another municipality will.
“So it’s $20,000 from the city, $20,000 from the hospital, $20,000 from our industry partner … per new recruit," Boileau said.
“So each new recruit can get $60,000 and we’ve all committed those funds for up to 10 recruits per year.”
“Timmins has a lot to offer,” added Tom Faught Jr. of the Timmins Chamber of Commerce.
“Our community’s in a great place. We’re poised for some growth in the future. We have our airport, which is a huge attraction for practitioners. So … we are in a good spot and I think we’re able to capitalize on that.”
And Boileau said she’ll be pushing hard for the development of a network of detour routes to get big trucks off the newly rebuilt Connecting Link.
