High COVID-19 cases could have Niagara seeing red
With Niagara’s COVID-19 numbers continuing to remain high, as daily case counts have consistently been in the 50s and 60s over the past week, many residents are bracing for the province to move the region into the Red-Control zone. If this happens Niagara would face the most severe restrictions available other than widescale business or organizational closure. Grey-Lockdown is the last level Niagara could move to if numbers continue to climb.
This past week local school boards have announced multiple positive COVID-19 cases in a number of elementary and high schools. In total there are 416 active cases throughout the region which is the most ever for Niagara. There are a total of 19 active outbreaks in the region including one at the Welland County General site and one at the Greater Niagara General (Niagara Falls) site of Niagara Health. 92 Niagara residents have died due to COVID-19.
It’s expected that the province will announce on Friday what zone Niagara will be slotted into.
Province gives Niagara millions to stave off operating deficits
Christmas came early for Niagara’s regional government and its 12 municipalities when Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West, announced yesterday that local governments will receive more than $17 million in Safe Restart Agreement funding. This is on top of what the Region and local municipalities received earlier in the pandemic. The discretionary funding will be used to offset operating costs for critical services and help ensure that all thirteen municipal governments in Niagara do not carry an operating deficit into 2021.
| Municipality | SRA Funding |
| Regional Municipality of Niagara* | $9,184,000.00 |
| Town of Fort Erie | $191,000.00 |
| Town of Grimsby | $137,000.00 |
| Town of Lincoln* | $1,084,000.00 |
| City of Niagara Falls* | $2,047,000.00 |
| Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake | $105,000.00 |
| Town of Pelham* | $1,298,000.00 |
| City of Port Colborne | $125,000.00 |
| City of St. Catharines* | $2,774,000.00 |
| City of Thorold | $104,000.00 |
| Township of Wainfleet | $39,000.00 |
| City of Welland | $283,000.00 |
| Township of West Lincoln | $66,000.00 |
| Total | $17,437,000.00 |
Welland and St. Catharines Budget Committees sharpen pencils to get under 2%
After more than almost four months of work, St. Catharines’ City Council approved both the 2021 Operating and Capital budgets, the first time in modern history that the City has approved both budgets on the same night. Led by budget Chair Mat Siscoe, the city was able to keep the 2021 tax increase around the rate of inflation. The budget increase came in at 1.86 per cent.
Siscoe said, “A lot of hard work went into keeping the 2021 City budget to the rate of inflation, without cutting the services the residents of St. Catharines expect. I am hopeful this will lead the way with other levels of government during this tough budget season.”
In Welland, that council also came under 2 per cent (1.96).
As other municipalities begin to report their budgets in the coming weeks all eyes will be on Niagara’s regional government. Last year that council supported significant tax increases including a 5.92 per cent overall property tax increase; a 5.15 per cent hike on the water and waste water tax bill; as well as a 9.9 per cent increase for waste management services.
Three Niagara municipalities to share solicitor
The Town of Pelham, the Town of Fort Erie, and the Township of Wainfleet recently
announced the joint hiring of Jennifer Stirton as the municipalities’ shared in-house solicitor. Stirton will take over routine legal matters, leaving conflict work and specialized work to the municipalities’ external legal counsel.
It is anticipated that the exact amount of time worked for any municipality will vary from month-to-month but is expected to ultimately result in a 40-40-20 (Pelham, Fort Erie, Wainfleet, respectively) split based on historical data. If the percentage paid by each municipality requires future adjustment, contractual and budgeting processes will address the issue.
Fonthill Rotary Club and E.L. Crossley help those in need
It was a team effort as members of the Rotary Club of Fonthill loaded and delivered the numerous bags and boxes of non-perishable food, personal care products and grocery gift cards collected by the staff and students of E.L. Crossley Secondary School to the Pelham
Cares collection site. The donations were added to the growing pile of boxes collected over the course of the Pelham Cares month long drive.
Each year the Interact Club of Crossley supports their local community through this Holiday Food Drive. This year, with only half the students in the building on any given day, advertising the Holiday Food Drive and collecting the items was made more challenging. Nevertheless, the drive was a big success thanks to the generosity of staff, students and community. The Rotary Club of Fonthill added their own bags of food to those collected by the Crossley Interact Club.
Niagara College appoints Board members
Niagara College announced the appointment of four members to the Niagara College Board of Governors for a three-year term. The appointments include:
Janet Allan: Allan is a retired partner from KPMG LLP, having worked in KPMG’s St. Catharines office. She has more than 35 years of experience in public accounting, serving clientele including local governments, school boards, colleges and universities, not-for-profit organizations and private companies. Allan has a long history of community involvement and is also treasurer of Gillian’s Place in St. Catharines and of the Rotary Club of St. Catharines Lakeshore.
Mishka Balsom: Balsom is the President and CEO of the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce (GNCC), which develops and implements initiatives designed to strengthen the local business climate and support Niagara’s economic prosperity. Balsom is actively involved with a number of local, provincial and international community organizations. Before joining the GNCC, she successfully held senior management positions in Canadian media and owned her own communications company.
Michael Mann: Mann is a member of the corporate/commercial legal team at Lancaster Brooks & Welch LLP where he was admitted to the partnership in 2000. In 2008, Mann received the Business Link’s 40 Under Forty Business Achievement Award. Mann has a long history of community involvement and currently sits as a board member on the Niagara Community Foundation.
Carolyn Hurst will return to the board for her second three-year term. Hurst is a seasoned business executive and board member who has an outstanding record of business success. She has been the president of three companies (Why Interactive Inc, ITC Corp., and Effingham Technology Management Inc.) and has more than 20 years of experience as an executive in the global Information Technology industry with Capgemini Canada, Ernst and Young, SHL Systemhouse, MCI International and JetFform. Currently, Hurst is the co-owner and founder of Westcott Vineyards a boutique winery in Jordan.
Fentanyl and cocaine seized in St. Catharines – Arrest made
Since October of 2020, detectives with the Guns, Gangs and Grows Unit and the Opioid Unit, with the Niagara Regional Police Service, have been investigating the sale of fentanyl from a residence in the area of Jacobson Avenue and Glendale Avenue, in St. Catharines.
The investigation led to an arrest on Tuesday. Detectives executed a search warrant and seized 150 grams of fentanyl, 8.5 grams of cocaine and $2,560 in Canadian currency believed to be the proceeds of drug sales. In total, the amount of drugs seized is estimated to be at a street value of $40,000 and approximately $12,000 in Canadian currency.
Abdul Issah (21 years old) of Toronto was arrested and charged with a number of crimes.
