City Council Meeting: March 24, 2015

Carbon Monoxide Alarm Required By April 15, 2015!

Recent changes to Provincial legislation affect carbon monoxide (CO) regulation for homeowners, making CO detectors mandatory in most homes. If you have a fuel burning appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage, you will be required to have a CO alarm installed adjacent to each sleeping area by April 15, 2015.

$31.8 Million Capital Budget Approved By Council

At last night's meeting, City Council approved their 2015 capital budget of $31.8 million for the City of Niagara Falls.

Out of the approved $31.8 million, $23.7 million has been slated for municipal works. Councillors replaced $354,000 worth of renovations at City facilities to pay for a Chippawa boat ramp project ($291,000) and improvements to the tennis court at Chippawa Lions Park ($63,000).  

These projects will be relocated to a $18.4 million list of capital projects without funding, a portion of which may be covered by the funding the City receives annually from OLG for hosting casinos. 

In efforts to accommodate the Niagara Falls Rowing Club rapidly growing membership base, Council approved preparation of a lease agreement between the Club and the City to begin setting up at the municipally-owned park.

Ontario Launches The Healthy Kids Community Challenge

The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care developed a community program called the Healthy Kids Community Challenge (HKCC) to help communities address obesity among youth. The program will support communities at the local level with funding, training, guidance and social marketing tools to help promote healthy eating, physical activity and health lifestyle choices for children and youth.

Niagara Region Public Health Department, Niagara's Mayors of the Niagara Region municipalities and cross regional partners agreed to come together in a unified way to submit a multi-municipal funding application requesting $1.5 million dollars over 4 years. 

The Business Education Council of Niagara was selected at the Niagara HKCC Project Manager. The costing will reflect proportionate population sizes for each Niagara municipality. Niagara Falls' portion will amount to an annual cost of $4,000 for 4 years ($16,000 in total). 

Learn more about The Healthy Kids Community Challenge.

Street Lighting Retrofit Program Approved For Niagara Falls

At last night's meeting, City Council approved a Street Lighting Retrofit Program for the City. The City has been pre-approved for approximately $ 0.85 million in incentives to replace 8,650 of the City' s cobra head style fixtures provided it can complete the change-out before the end of the calendar year.

The City' s 2014 Energy Management Plan (EMP) defined the City's energy reduction target at over 7.5% over the next five years. Retrofit of existing street light fixtures to LED would decrease street lighting energy demand by 31%. Based on a comparison to the baseline estimates from 2011, the overall decrease in the City's energy demand would be 15%; exceeding the five year target of 7.5 %
 
The street light retrofit project is expected to cost approximately $ 3.9 million. The total project cost to the City minus the incentive is $ 3.05 million.

Learn more about NPEI's Save On Energy Program.

Niagara College Summer Transit Service Returns For 2015

Niagara Falls Transit services will continue to be provided to Niagara College students residing within the City of Niagara Falls from May 1, 2015 through August 21, 2015 in return for twenty-five cents per ride, which will be paid by the Niagara College Student Administrative Council.

This service was initiated in 2009 by Niagara Falls Transit and the Niagara College Student Administrative for the benefit of Niagara College students residing in Niagara Falls, and has proven to be mutually beneficial to the parties.