Upcoming NPCA board meeting cancelled
It looks like it will be a while before new Niagara members of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority board occupy their seats at a meeting.
The next scheduled meeting for the NPCA board — this Thursday — was cancelled by former chair Sandy Annunziata, an NPCA spokesman said.
The would mean the next board meeting will coincide with NPCA’s annual general meeting Jan. 16.
The move caught by surprise at least one of the new appointees selected for the board by regional council last week.
St. Catharines regional Coun. Brian Heit, has been appointed an interim member of the NPCA board, said notice of the meeting was posted on the website when he returned from council’s inaugural meeting last Thursday.
“On Saturday, someone said they went online, and (saw) the meeting was cancelled,” Heit said.
“The City of St. Catharines and other cities have said the NPCA needs a supervisor,” he added.
“If this doesn’t tell you a supervisor is needed, hello, wake up. If it was in a movie, people wouldn’t believe it.”
Heit said the former board was appointed by a Region bylaw to the end of the term of council, which was Nov. 30.
In the meantime, there remains questions about how many representatives each municipality should get on NPCA’s board.
NPCA spokesman Mike Reles said the meeting was cancelled a couple of weeks ago.
“The date was only held tentatively — if we needed a meeting,” he said. “There was a lag from when it was cancelled to when we were notified to change the website.
“The notification was sent out to the board, but not to communications, so we didn’t know it was cancelled.”
Welland Mayor Frank Campion, who resigned in protest from the board last month, said there is no reason the meeting couldn’t be “uncancelled.”
“Since there appears to be no legitimate board, the chief administrative officer or corporate secretary could call and convene a meeting, much like the clerk called and held the inaugural meeting.