Garrison Road is closed near the intersection of Buffalo Road for a natural gas leak late Wednesday afternoon. Roadblocks are set up at Ferndale Avenue and Green Acres Drive. Canadian Niagara Power is assessing whether to shut the power. It is the second time in less than two months that a contractor has ruptured the [...]

The 2010 municipal election in Fort Erie is now over. The Niagara compliance audit committee cleared all six candidates of deliberate wrong-doing in the second round of hearings into their election finances. Infractions by councillor Stephen Passero, Mayor Doug Martin and former councillor Ann-Marie Noyes are not serious enough to merit prosecution in court, the [...]

Election finance violations by three Fort Erie town councillors are not serious enough to merit court action, ruled the Niagara compliance audit committee Tuesday night. John Hill, Don Lubberts and Paul Collard were forgiven their transgressions during the 2010 municipal elections last October when they accepted donations from ineligible contributors and committed other infractions of [...]

No one escaped unscathed from compliance audits of 2010 municipal election campaign finances in the Town of Fort Erie. Five members of council plus an unelected candidate were found to have contravened a handful of regulations in the Municipal Elections Act. They are illustrative of carelessness, sloppiness, confusion and ignorance. However, the auditor also noted [...]

Town councillors need look no further than themselves to find the best way to improve municipal operations. “Better governance,” said the consultant hired to conduct an operational review, “appears to hold the greatest opportunity for improvement.” David Berger of Western Management Consultants said it was the “number one issue” when he summarized the review to [...]

By Mike Cloutier The money spent on the operations review by David Berger and Liuba Mamonova of Western Management Consultants was worth every cent, if only it turns the noise level down. An extra bonus would be if it helps to ratchet up the intelligence quotient “around this horseshoe” — what councillors have been calling [...]

A short section of Garrison Road between Crescent Road and Daytona Drive is closed Monday morning while Enbridge personnel deal with a natural gas leak related to underground construction.

Property taxes in Fort Erie are going up an average of 3.4 per cent in 2012. The Town’s one-third share of the total tax bill is going up 4.6 per cent, missing council’s guideline of a 2.9 per cent increase. Councillor’s refused to commit any money toward the replacement of the Kinsmen Pool which will [...]

A second attempt to overturn the Ontario Municipal Board approval of the Bay Beach condo project was rejected last week. Board chairman Lynda Tanaka refused Patricia Nowak Murrett’s request to review the OMB decision from last January. She wrote that the request was made well beyond the 30-day limit and rejected Murrett’s claim that she [...]

Contract negotiations between the Town of Fort Erie and its unionized employees have broken off. Representatives of management and the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local #714 met for two days in December and briefly this morning. The two sides are at odds over contract language covering job postings and layoffs. Wages and benefits were [...]

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Wrecking Ball Tour will come to First Niagara Center on Friday, April 13 at 7:30pm.

Town operations are “lean and mean,” said the consultant who Fort Erie town council hired last year to root out cost savings and “efficiencies.” David Berger of Western Management Consultants said the Town compares well with similar municipalities and in some cases exceeds benchmarks. The two most important points in his 25 recommendations, as he [...]

Water bills will go up an average of 4.4 per cent in 2012. With no members of the public present, no TV camera and only one reporter, town councillors had little to say when the water and sewer budget was presented Dec. 7. The increase translates into a $4.17 hike on an average water bill [...]

The Town of Fort Erie is not meeting its non-tax revenue targets so a raft of municipal fees are proposed to be hiked and a bunch of new ones implemented. Fee revenue for planning and building services is way under budget, missing the $650,000 target by more than half. Planning director Rick Brady said a [...]

Provision of water and disposal of sewage is a collaborative effort of both levels of municipal government. It’s a $16 million business in Fort Erie — more than $1,500 for every household in town. And it’s forecast to grow to more than $18 million in five years. Financial operation of the water system — technically [...]