City takes ownership of docks
The Chippawa docks have a new owner today.
The City of Niagara Falls has officially taken ownership of the facility just southwest of the Weightman Bridge on the Welland River.
The dock was built in 2012. To meet requirements for provincial capital grant funding, the nonprofit Chippawa Public Docks Committee was obligated to own the dock for at least five years before handing it over to the city.
Most of the work was done by volunteers and members of the docks committee using private funding and donations from the public.
At the time, the city spent $65,000 on site preparation including sewers, emergency access and shoreline protection.
The committee raised about $50,000 to build the docks, and the rest of the $170,000 cost was covered through government grants.
On Tuesday night, the city agreed to take over ownership of the docks, including future maintenance. Earlier this year, it spent $17,000 to rebuild part of the docks damaged by ice in 2015.
Docks committee chairman Dan Tibbs spoke to council Tuesday, and said the committee hopes to open a Chippawa Rail Trail that would run alongside the river.
But, he added, there is an obstacle: old concrete abutments left over from a bridge that’s no longer there.
“We look down the waterway and see a beautiful view. But those abutments are like tooth decay in our smile,” Tibbs said.
“We’d like to remove them and create a rail trail.”
Coun. Wayne Thomson credited the committee members for their work, saying, “I’ve never seen a harder-working committee. And what they’ve accomplished for Chippawa is phenomenal.”