There really needs to be a time limit on speeches and we could still do without the personal anecdotes that do not move the town business forward.

Council’s debate of Councillor Allaire’s motion for a survey of all residents regarding Open Air lasted almost fifteen minutes: who received a survey? who should be surveyed? who was surveyed? when to survey? who should vet the survey? should all events be surveyed? we’ve had many open air surveys to date, correct?

Councillor Crain was the sole opposition. He said he can’t grasp why Open Air specifically; and it was already mentioned that we’ve done an Open Air survey for residents and businesses so he felt a survey just on Open Air seems to be wasting staff time in his opinion; he would consider it if they opened it up to all events.

The waste of time, in my opinion, was the almost fifteen minutes that resulted in what Councillor Allaire wanted in the first place.

the burg watch: to CAO Critchley: would you please advise on what dates did admin/tourism dept. conduct Open Air surveys of Amherstburg residents/ratepayers?

CAO Critchley I believe that there have been several community surveys placed on Talk the Burg with respect to Open Air in the past but I do not have the precise dates. As you may know, Council has asked that a new survey be prepared and it will be issued in the Fall.

the burg watch: knowing the precise dates would be helpful for the public and for decision makers. a ‘talk the burg’ site search yielded no results.

CAO Critchley: I am attaching copies of all surveys that we were able to locate regarding Open Air. I would note that we have surveyed visitors to Open Air and the businesses inside and outside the footprint. We have not done a resident wide survey, however that is being prepared and will be done this year.

How many surveys were there?

• Visit Amherstburg: Business Survey #1 May 20, 2020
• Visit Amherstburg: Visitor Survey Open Air Weekends August 21, 2020 to September 27, 2020
• Final Business Survey Open Air 2021 sent out to the businesses within the footprint on Sept 27, 2021 and closed Oct. 5, 2021.
• Open Air Weekend Customer Survey August 7,8 9 2021 Administered by Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island
• Amherstburg Open Air Weekends 2022 Business Survey Results 37 Businesses out of 45 in the Open Air Footprint
• AMHERSTBURG CHAMBER OF COMMERCE delegation February 21, 2023 membership survey to gain feedback for 2023 budget & Community Strategic Plan