Mapping out city’s transportation future
Ten years after he asked for it, St. Patrick’s Coun. Mark Elliott finally gets to see St. Catharines embark on a new transportation master plan.
The transportation master plan will aim to shape the future of driving, cycling, walking and commuting in the city.
Elliott’s long wait for a plan, requested in his first term in office, is well known around the chamber’s horseshoe.
“I think Mark Elliott has been pushing long and hard for this one, seven years in the making I think. Maybe even longer,” said Mayor Walter Sendzik Monday.
Elliott chimed in that his motion for a transportation master plan was made in January 2007.
The last transportation master plan was completed in 1965, when Brock University had just opened its doors and St. Catharines’ population was almost 50,000 smaller than now.
The new plan will involve community and stakeholder input.
“We want people to tell us how they want to see our city grow when it comes to transportation,” Sendzik said.
The city is asking residents to participate in an online activity before Sept. 1, which is aimed at gathering feedback on the long-term transportation needs of the city.
Called Metro Quest, the interactive tool guides residents through questions and scenarios related to cars, transit and cycling at www.stcatharines.ca/ Metro Quest.
A series of open houses and an online survey will take place in the fall. Technical workshops will be held with local stakeholder groups as well. More information can be found at www. stcatharines.ca/ TMP.
Taxpayers dinged with late payment penalties
St. Catharines taxpayers are reminded that due dates mean the money has to be in the city’s hands — not just the bank’s.
St. George’s Coun. Sal Sorrento said he and a number of other councillors have received complaints from residents about late fees recently.
He said residents paid their property taxes at the bank on Friday, June 30 — the city’s due date — but were charged penalties for being late because the money didn’t make it to the city the same day.
“There’s been a lot of telephone calls to (customer service) Citizens First.”
Acting CAO Shelley Chemnitz said the city is suggesting to all residents that they sign up for pre-authorized payment plans so they never have to worry about late fees again. She said pre-authorized payments are taken out at the last-minute possible.
Residents can call the Citizens First’s customer service desk to set up pre-authorized payments as well as look into their individual files.
Contacted Wednesday, city billing manager Lisa Read said pre-authorized plans or instalment plans are helpful. People who don’t want to do that should pay a couple of days ahead of schedule at the bank to ensure the money is transmitted to the city by the due date.
Penalties are one-and-quarter per cent per month on a person’s tax instalment, applied on the first day of default. On an $800 payment, for instance, the penalty would be $10.
Tracking down Merritton noise
St. Catharines staff will get in touch with train and highway officials after complaints by Merritton residents about noise.
Merritton Coun. Jennie Stevens said train whistles are back at the end of Moffatt Street and area residents were “up in arms” this past weekend.
She said it seems the whistles are getting louder and more frequent for the past month. Area residents say the culprits are GO train and Amtrak.
Stevens also noted traffic noise from Highway 406 is becoming frequent and louder for residents in the area of Moffatt Street and Bluegrass Crescent. She asked that the city look into the possibility of a new noise barrier for residents.
City staff from transportation and environmental services will reach out to the Ministry of Transportation about its program for putting up noise barriers.
They will also contact the rail companies with concerns about the whistles.
Fire services report remains burning issue
A long-awaited master fire plan for St. Catharines Fire and Emergency Services could be in the hands of councillors next month.
Merritton Coun. Dave Haywood asked once again why the report was taking so long Monday.
Council approved the terms of reference for a fire master plan committee to review the services in November 2015. Haywood noted the minutes of the committee’s last meeting said the plan was ready.
St. Catharines acting chief administrative officer Shelley Chemnitz said the committee has a draft fire master plan. But she said there were additional requests city council made that the committee still has to meet about.
“Council has a number of requests that relate specifically to fire planning and how we will run the services going forward, so we do need to still have those discussions with the committee.”
She said the plan itself could be viewed by council in the next few weeks.
Mayor Walter Sendzik said the plan would be placed on council’s Aug. 21 agenda, giving staff six weeks to get it in draft form.
Waving flags, not fees
The federal government won’t be dropping the GST/HST on Canadian flags any time soon, despite a request from St. Catharines councillors.
City council backed a motion on May 8 by the south-central Ontario township of Adjala-Tosorontio asking the federal and provincial governments to waive the taxes on Canadian flag purchases for the year 2017.
But a letter from the office of Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau ruled it out.
The June letter by senior policy adviser Elliot Hughes, included in council’s agenda package Monday night, said the GST/HST applies to a very broad base of goods and services. It said there are only a limited narrow set of exceptions which include basic groceries, residential rents, certain medical devices, prescription drugs and health-care services.
Hughes wrote that applying the GST/HST to a broad base of goods and services keeps the tax “more efficient, simpler and lower.”
“Consumers benefit if the general sales tax rate is kept as low as possible by maintaining the comprehensive base for the tax.”
Casinos resolution supported by council
St. Catharines has reiterated its support for protecting jobs at Niagara Falls casinos.
City councillors endorsed a resolution Monday made by Niagara Falls city council on June 22.
The resolution, which was sent to all Niagara municipalities for support, states the city of Niagara Falls will explore “all available legal avenues” to cause the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. to end the “flawed” process of selecting new operators for Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara.
The resolution calls for Niagara Falls to “persuade” OLG to “honour the terms and spirit” of the original agreements between the city and OLG. Those agreements, the city contends, promised the casinos would be operated as drivers of the local economy.
Niagara politicians have been concerned that the province’s plan for gaming modernization could lead to job losses at the casinos. They want the request for proposals for a new operator to include an emphasis on job retention and creation.
St. Catharines unanimously backed a motion by St. George’s Coun. Mike Britton in March calling on the province to halt its current process for selecting the next operator of the two Niagara casinos, which employ 4,000 people.
Britton said Monday what happens at the casino affects many residents in St. Catharines.