Grimaldi opposes SEART council member
There’s no place for city council members on Welland’s special event application review team (SEART), Mary Ann Grimaldi said Tuesday night.
The Ward 1 councillor made the comment after Ward 3 Coun. John Chiocchio introduced a notice of motion asking that a council representative be added to the team.
SEART members can include nearly every city department and outside agencies such as Niagara Regional Police, Niagara Emergency Medical Services and Niagara Region Public Health.
“Depending on the scale of the event, there could be more organizations involved,” said Welland Fire and Emergency Services Chief Brian Kennedy in response to a question from Grimaldi.
The group looks after approving events such as the Welland Rose Parade, Canada and Victoria Day celebrations, Welland Float Fest, street dances and more.
Grimaldi said SEART must figure out ways to make sure each event is safe and complies with all of the rules and regulations.
Chiocchio felt it is important a council member be at the SEART meetings, especially as the city funds many of the events.
He said it could help in resolving issues that some events face, as he referred to the first Float Fest and some technical issues it faced.
“We need to have some communication,” he said.
Ward 5 Coun. Mike Belcastro said while he understood the councillor’s motion, he was not familiar with how SEART worked.
“I’d like to see the terms of reference for a start, there must be a reason why there’s no councillor appointed,” said Belcastro.
Grimaldi said she didn’t believe the team needed a politician at the table.
“It’s all done for a good reason and should continue that way,” she said.
Ward 3 Coun. John Mastroianni asked for the motion to be deferred until SEART’s terms of reference could be circulated to council. Chiocchio tried, on a point of order before the vote, to tell council there were no terms of reference.
Mayor Frank Campion said the councillor’s point of order wasn’t connected to the deferral motion and council voted to send the motion to staff for a report.