Bank managers' concerns are also mayor's concerns

Photo by Zulfugar Karimov

By Cecilia Nasmith

The Downtown Banking Tour report prepared by Cobourg Mayor Lucas Cleveland for Wednesday's council meeting sets out the results of his own consultations with the managers of some significant anchors in the downtown, and the news is not all good.

The report was received for information purposes, but among the bank managers' concerns is one that is significant for Cleveland, especially the things he heard from several of them who manage bank branches in both Cobourg and Port Hope.

“They are currently tracking how many customers from Cobourg are now using only Port Hope services. What I found incredible is that they are seeing a significant shift,” the mayor said.

“That is why I was glad to see our parking rules change – because managers said that's one of the things that were driving Cobourg customers to Port Hope. They are driving to Port Hope during the day to do their business there.”

Another reason for the shift is the changing nature of the vestibules where they keep the ATMs that has forced some to limit hours of access due to the homeless people who take shelter there. For those that don't limit their hours, employees sometimes report to work in the morning and are greeted with disturbing sights.

“They find feces, syringes, unconscious bodies,” Cleveland said.

And apart from the distress of the situation, he added, “there are a multitude of insurance risks as well as staff risks.”

There is some thought of shifting ATMs to banks' exterior wall, where they could be available around the clock, but bank managers are finding the town's heritage regulations are not always compatible with such an idea.

Meanwhile, as time goes on, there's another risk.

“The really concerning thing for me – when banks start to see that, they may say, 'Why do we need two branches,'” Cleveland said.

And municipalities that find themselves losing such significant downtown anchors may also find themselves in real trouble.

Council voted to receive the report for information, rather than move any specific action, but the mayor was fine with that.

“We have had the conversation, the knowledge is out there and, if staff feel or the heritage committee feel they have recommendations, I would look forward to hearing them in the future,” he said.