The city’s mills have stood for decades as a reminder of better days, and now the owners of those buildings are hoping for a renaissance and a return to a time when mills were an integral part of the city’s prosperity.

With that in mind, the Fall River Mill Owners Association asked Mayor Will Flanagan and challenger Cathy Ann Viveiros to share their visions for the iconic structures during a forum Tuesday afternoon at the Bristol
Community College television studio. The forum was recorded to air tonight at 6:30 on Fall River Community Television, with additional broadcasts planned.

Both candidates assured the group that mills will play a significant role in the future of Fall River. Viveiros said the buildings are assets, able to serve as attractive locations for everything from office or residential space to business incubators. She said the mills offer adaptable space and cost less than other development opportunities.

“You’re offering structures and in an area where we have a lack of space,” Viveiros said. “We have to maximize the space we have, while making it profitable to the owners and useful to the local community.”

Flanagan said public and private interests must work together to make the mills successul. He pointed to the Commonwealth Landing and Wampanoag Mill projects as examples of government aiding mill redevelopment efforts.

As the prospect of future development rises, both offered a different perspective on how to streamline the permitting process to attract businesses to Fall River.

Flanagan pointed to the creation of the Waterfront Development District ordinance, which streamlined permitting along a specific section of the waterfront, as an important tool for drawing businesses to the city.

“My primary responsibility is to create and sustain jobs from the GED level to the Ph.D. level,” Flanagan said. “To do that, we have to make sure business owners see predictability in the decision-making process.”

Flanagan said the ordinance allows business owners to know what is required when they consider Fall River as a potential destination.

Viveiros, however, said she considers the ordinance to be “relaxed zoning standards.” Instead, she called from the creation of a streamlined permitting process that would begin with an exchange of information between a prospective business owner and representatives of any city department involved with a particular permit.

Both candidates also said the city should expand the capabilities of the Planning Department, which they described as understaffed. Flanagan said the department's budget should be increased, while Viveiros recommended modeling an approach after the Lowell, which hired an employee who focuses on non-profit organizations and is paid through a grant.

The mayoral competitors also said they would look to the mills to help diversify Fall River’s economy. Viveiros said the mills can serve to assist future development such as the planned life sciences and biopark. Flanagan suggested the mills could help the city become a destination, pointing to the Narrows Center of the Arts as an example.

“We’ll continue to work to promote the arts culture and entertainment scene in the city to create jobs and bring people into the city,” Flanagan said.