Binbrook a priority for new NPCA chair
But Johnson says focus will remain on entire watershed
While Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority will continue its focus on the entire watershed under its jurisdiction, the organization’s newly appointed chair, Brenda Johnson, also hopes to address long-awaited priorities at Binbrook Conservation Area.
Clarifying her comments published in a Hamilton-area newspaper story last week — under a headline saying she will be seeking a “Hamilton-based agenda” for the Niagara-based organization — Johnson said a master plan for park infrastructure upgrades such as septic system improvements has been in place since 2015, but the work has yet to be completed.
“It’s desperately needed,” she said.
And Binbrook Conservation Area, on the shore of Lake Niapenco off Harrison Road, is NPCA’s “main focus that’s in Hamilton.”
Johnson is working with fellow Hamilton city councillor and NPCA board member Brad Clark to ask that city for an interest-free loan, so the recommendations of that master plan can be implemented.
“So just to get that record straight, we’re not asking the NPCA for a loan, it’s the opposite way around,” she said, adding the cost of that project is still be determined.
“We’re still waiting for the project manager to firm up some of the details.”
Because Binbrook is one of NPCA’s largest revenue generators, she called it “appropriate for the NPCA to ask the city for an interest-free loan because they can use part of the revenues to pay back the loan.”
She said making Binbrook’s upgrades a priority was an initiative started several months ago by former interim chief administrative officer Gayle Wood, and one she is continuing as the organization’s chair.
Johnston said another challenge at Binbrook is confusion over its management.
“It’s really confusing for people who live in Binbrook who have a Hamilton Conservation Authority pass, and go to Binbrook and can’t get in,” she said. “They don’t get it. Even though it’s in the city of Hamilton, it’s not part of the Hamilton watershed. That part is very confusing that it’s based on watershed and not on municipalities.”
Johnson has said she hopes to put NPCA’s troubled past behind it, but said there is one lingering issue for which “I’d like to get the record straight.”
Although Johnson was chair of Hamilton’s selection committee during the past two terms, said she recused herself from the process of selecting the city’s NPCA representatives because longtime board member Stew Beattie had worked as her election campaign manager. The city’s two representatives from 2010 to 2018 were selected by committee members, without her involvement.
But that changed in 2018 when Beattie instead managed his son Jeff’s unsuccessful election campaign, allowing Johnson to participate in the selection process.
“I just want that out there, because it’s like, honest to God. Come on guys, let’s work together and let’s get positive and get things done,” Johnson said.
“Let’s do what the NPCA has been wanting to do for the past 10 years.”