Two small local businesses are interested in setting up shop on municipal property this summer.
The Ice Cream Coop, which moved to Lorne Street in 2022 and changed owners in 2023, is looking to make a move back to Main Street, in the Bill Johnstone Memorial Park between the Sackville Public Library and the bandstand. Before 2022 the Coop was located on the other side of the library building, in the parking lot of the Kookie Kutter.
A proposed agreement presented to council on Monday would see The Ice Cream Coop owners responsible for electrical upgrades and liability insurance, as well as paying $200 per month to rent the space for their summer season.
On the other side of town on Mallard Drive, Sackville Farmers’ Market coffee purveyors Deus Ex Macina are looking to set up a seasonal cafe inside the Visitor Information Centre (VIC). Pete Stephenson and Alice Cotton have proposed to do about $5000 in plumbing and electrical work to carve out a 200 square foot space inside the VIC, alongside The Craft Gallery, Robert Lyons Graphics, and the town’s summer tourism staff.
Tantramar staff are calling the first year of the VIC agreement a pilot, with a token rent of $1 per month in consideration of the necessary renovations. The agreement specifies that rent in future years would be on par with the other tenants in the building.
Councillors were enthusiastic about both proposals on Monday, with one exception.
Councillor Barry Hicks was the lone vote against sending the VIC cafe proposal forward for a decision. Hicks told council he was concerned that other places nearby were already selling coffee, and questioned the discrepancy in rent charges between the cafe and the Ice Cream Coop. Manager of Tourism and Business Development Ron Kelly Spurles explained that the nominal rent charge for the cafe was in consideration of the leasehold improvements that would be required in the VIC, which are estimated to cost about $5000.
Both proposals will come back to Tantramar council for a decision at its April 9 council meeting.
