The Biden administration recently announced $1 billion in U.S. federal government funding to help clean up the Great Lakes region, including the Niagara River (pictured) that bypasses Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, and Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Fort Erie urgent care centre reopens
After remaining closed for the better part of the last two months, Fort Erie’s urgent care centre reopened to the public on Wednesday.
The Fort Erie site was temporarily closed on Jan. 6 by Niagara Health in order to redeploy personnel to the region’s three emergency departments, which at the time were overwhelmed by an influx of patients and staff shortages due to the Omicron wave.
“We are pleased to be in a position to start reopening services for patients, and appreciate the community’s understanding during this challenging fifth wave when we had to make difficult decisions to prioritize care for patients needing critical, emergency and acute care services,” said Niagara Health President and CEO Lynn Guerriero.
With the reopening, Niagara Region will end its temporary transportation service put in place for Fort Erie residents to travel to the Port Colborne urgent care centre, effective Feb. 27.
Regional councillor from Lincoln elected chair of NPCA
Councillor Rob Foster, who represents the Town of Lincoln on Niagara Regional Council, was elected chair of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) at the organization’s annual general meeting last week.
Foster replaces Hamilton city councillor Brenda Johnson.
“I am very pleased to be taking on the role of chair for this new term. We have made great strides in the past three years, understanding, stabilizing and planning the NPCA for the future,” said Foster.
“This year, we will be focused on fully implementing this plan and continuing the focus on good governance, something this Board takes great pride in achieving.”
Haldimand County councillor John Metcalfe becomes the new vice-chair.
The NPCA manages 41 conservation areas across the Niagara Peninsula, including Ball’s Falls, Binbrook, Long Beach, and Chippawa Creek.
After years of historic tax increases, Grimsby approves 2022 budget at rate well-below inflation
At its Tuesday council meeting, Town of Grimsby councillors unanimously approved the municipality’s 2022 budget.
The operating and capital works associated with the 2022 budget results in a 1.99 per cent local tax increase and a combined local, regional and education tax increase of 2.29 per cent.
“Our team has spent a tremendous amount of time and effort creating a budget that appropriately balances the needs of residents and businesses today while ensuring Grimsby will have a strong and bright future,” said CAO Harry Schlange.
The local tax increase amounts to an additional $36 per year ($3 a month), for an average residential household assessed at $442,000, and is well below the current 5.19 per cent inflation rate.
“I’m very proud of the budget Town staff have prepared,” said Mayor Jeff Jordan. “It not only ensures Council can advance its Strategic Priorities, but allows us to make investments that will support Grimsby’s growing population for years to come. Above all else, it ensures the Town remains financially sustainable while investing in a brighter future.”
Grimsby had a modest rate increase last year, but in the years prior had historic double digital tax hikes.
Retired NRP officer wins provincial ‘Victim Services Award of Distinction’
Former Niagara Regional Police Services deputy chief Frank Parkhouse has been named a 2021/22 recipient of the Ontario government’s ‘Victim Services Awards of Distinction’.
Given annually by the province’s Attorney General, the awards recognize the dedication and creativity of 16 professionals and volunteers from across Ontario who serve people who have experienced victimization due to crime and the courageous efforts of individuals who have been personally impacted by crime and are now working to raise the profile of victims’ issues in the province.
Parkhouse, a founding and current board member of the Kristen French Child Advocacy Centre in St. Catharines, as well as a long-time board member at Family and Children’s Services Niagara, was part of the Green Ribbon Task Force that investigated the murders of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s.
“These awards are an expression of our enduring appreciation of Ontarians’ exceptional achievements in service to victims of crime,” said Attorney General Doug Downey. “I offer my sincere congratulations to each recipient of the 2021-22 Victim Services Awards of Distinction, as well as the teams, networks of support and the communities they represent.”
Niagara River gets big boost from Biden administration for ongoing restoration efforts
Last week, Western New York congressman Brian Higgins was joined by representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to announce a $1 billion U.S. federal government investment in Great Lakes restoration.
The funding, provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Law, will expedite cleanup of “Areas of Concern” (AOC) around the Great Lakes, including the Niagara River, Buffalo River, and Eighteen Mile Creek.
“The importance and impact of this achievement, made possible thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure law, can’t be overstated,” said Higgins. “It was just a generation ago that the Buffalo River was so polluted with industrial waste that it caught on fire.”
The Niagara River, which bypasses Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, and Niagara-on-the-Lake on route to connecting Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, is one of five binational “Areas of Concern” first designated by Canadian and American officials in 1987.
The Canadian government has invested about $8 million since 1990 to remove contaminated material and restore wildlife habitat around the river.
Province eliminates plate stickers, licence renewal fees
Effective Mar. 13, 2022, the Ontario government is eliminating licence plate renewal fees and the requirement to have a licence plate sticker for passenger vehicles, light-duty trucks, motorcycles, and mopeds.
The change will affect some eight million vehicle owners in the province.
“As the cost of living continues to go up, our government is cutting costs for families to make life more affordable,” said Premier Doug Ford. “Eliminating the fee to renew your licence plate and refunding the cost of doing so for the past two years is a concrete way we can put and keep more money in the pockets of hard-working Ontarians.”
The province will refund eligible individual owners of vehicles for any licence plate renewal fees paid since March 2020. Cheques will be sent via mail starting at the end of March and throughout the month of April.
To receive a refund cheque, vehicle owners who have moved recently will need to confirm that their address information on their vehicle permit or driver’s licence is up-to-date at Ontario.ca/AddressChange by March 7, 2022, and pay any outstanding fees, fines or tolls.
“Our government is taking strong action at a time when the cost of living and doing business in Ontario is skyrocketing,” said Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation. “For many families, driving is an absolute necessity. Eliminating licence plate renewal fees and stickers is part of our government’s commitment to support drivers”.
Renewal fees will also be eliminated for passenger, light duty commercial vehicles, motorcycles and mopeds that are owned by a company or business. However, no refunds will be given for the period of March 2020 to March 2022.
Vehicle owners will still be required to renew their licence plate every one or two years at no cost to confirm their automobile insurance is valid.
Renewal fees and requirements for licence plate stickers for heavy commercial vehicles and snowmobiles remain unchanged.
