Is the Mayor being bullied? We ask an expert page 8 Police chaplain receives medal page 13 Lion award page 9
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Panthers are Silver Stick Champions! Column Six Tongue in cheek, or cheeky tongue Memorable man memory research results explained BY PAMCITA MARIE ROBBINSKY
Special to the VOICE
M
Story: Page 16 HISTORY-MAKING TEAM Back row, from left: Randy Crysler (Trainer), Harry Powell (Head Coach), Campbell Veld, Callen Vitucci, Matt Diraddo, Carson Stolk, Jeremy Pollard, Antonio Dechellis, Hayden Stewart, Josh Major, Mitchell Waldt, Mark Leduc (Coach), Todd Major (Manager). Front row, from left: Quentin Annunziata, Harrison Doan, Damien Pullar, Cam Crysler, Owen Leduc, Nicholas Longo, Evan Lacroix. Reclining: Jake Nunn, Josh Powell. SUPPLIED PHOTO
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UCH R ESE A RCH has been done on "man memory,” or the lack of it. Man memory research has spanned the decades and has been conducted by several reputable institutions like the Mayo Clinic, Stanford University, and the University of Toronto, etc. The research from these honored institutions shows, on the whole, most men have lousy, lousy memories, amnesiac, or in younger males, intermittent recall at best. "Mom. I don't know how that pan of leftover lasagna got under my bed." What jumps off the pages of these extensive research manuscripts, the findings confirm the frustrations I have, and many concerns of my gal-pals who also have had some not-so-nice experiences arising from man memory, or lack of it. At book club, there have See COLUMN SIX back page
Page 2
The Voice of Pelham, January 24 2018
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NRPS impaired driving charges
Two restaurants close
PUBLISHER’S CORNER by Dave Burket
Reading this on Tuesday? There’s still time! As we told you last week, some E. L. Crossley drama students are set to perform a series of monologues on change—to the town, and evidently to themselves—on Tuesday evening at the high school. This raised a fair amount of comment after we posted the story online. If you’re inclined to attend, the doors open at 6:45 and the curtain goes up at 7 PM…There’s reach, and then there’s reach: In our first issue of 2018 we mentioned the relative popularity of certain articles last year, based on Facebook hits. Anything related to Town finances usually saw the mid-5000 range. A remembrance of E. L. Crossley teacher Sharon Keller saw 8100, and the all-time, most-read story from 2017— news of the Timmsdale House demolition—came in at 10,018 hits. Well, talk about being demolished. That record was blasted away by a short item posted at midday on Saturday, relating news that the venerable Lazy Loon Restaurant had suddenly closed. As we go to press late Monday, the story has earned 24,202 hits. It’s been shared 157 times. People, it seems, liked the Loon, and lament its (apparent) demise. Some former employees have reached out to us (see the brief piece at right), and we may have more to report next week… Slow down, you move too fast: In our haste to get last week’s paper wrapped-up, we managed to drop a 50th wedding anniversary ad. It’s in this week, though, on page 6, and we posted it online, too. 3173 hits later—folks, I think you’re going to have a fine turnout!… Those pesky hyphens: Our story last week about Larry Fisher was also well received. He’s the fellow who’s compiled a checklist for estate executors, which he’ll send to you for free. Unfortunately, his email address grew an unwanted hyphen last week as the text wrapped inside the column. It’s actually larryfisher17@gmail.com, and we’re making triple-sure it doesn’t get broken again this time around. Done!
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The Lazy Loon restaurant, a fixture on Highway 20 in Fonthill for just shy of 20 years, has ceased operating, according to a sign apparently posted by the current owner, who bought the business in 2016 from its founders. Staff were taken by surprise, showing up to work to find the message taped to the front door. Efforts to reach the owner have failed, say staff who have contacted the Voice. They also assert that they had not been paid since December, and are filing a complaint with the Ministry of Labour. Emails requesting comment from the owner were not answered. Also closing earlier in the month was Black Pearl Fish & Chips, on Pelham Street in downtown Fonthill. Owner Jake Bevan posted a farewell message on Facebook, apparently since deleted. The building, along with the hearing aid retailer next door, is listed for sale at $575,000. VOICE PHOTOS
COUNCIL continued from Page 16 St. Catharines City Council, two of which related to the NPCA. On December 11, St. Catharines Council passed a motion requesting that the NPCA disclose its legal costs incurred during the failed lawsuits against activist Ed Smith. Smith, a frequent critic of the NPCA, was sued by the Authority last year. Though Judge James Ramsay found that Smith’s allegations were inaccurate, he also dismissed the suit, saying that Smith demonstrated no malice and that it was inappropriate for a government body to sue a critic.
Rybiak announced his support for St. Catharines’ motion, saying that he would like to endorse the call for the NPCA to release the cost of the suit. Rybiak also expressed interest in endorsing another St. Catharines motion on the NPCA, which requested that the Premier “appoint a Supervisor to take over operations” of the Authority. Councillor Accursi suggested that such an appointment could be appropriate, he also called such a request “an exercise in futility,” saying that the province had already indicated that it will not appoint such a supervisor. During this discussion,
Mayor Dave Augustyn mentioned to Council that the Auditor General of Ontario has begun its review of the NPCA. Rybiak spoke to one further motion from St. Catharines, which called for steps to be taken to increase the number of women in local government. “The City of St. Catharines was very busy,” said Rybiak. “I would like staff to bring forward a similar motion to us.” Papp expressed his support for such a proposal. Augustyn turned to Councillor Catherine King, Pelham’s sole female Councillor, to see if she wished to comment, but she did not.
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Column Six
Growing up British
Vol.20 No.32
Wednesday October 12, 2016
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Apple Day comes to Fonthill
BY JULIE MANNELL
Special to the VOICE
W
BALLOONING INTEREST Grade 6 student Jinja Shepherd explains her experiment on static electricity at the Glynn A. Green Public School's annual science fair last Friday. See story, page 3. NATE SMELLE PHOTO
Public meeting tonight on school issues BY VOICE STAFF As questions continue to mount regarding an email that Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn quietly sent to a District School Board of Niagara trustee last summer, Augustyn has agreed to address the issue at a public meeting scheduled for this evening, Wednesday, Feb. 8, in Fenwick. Nancy Beamer, speaking for “Names Matter,” a Pelham citizens group lobbying the DSBN to reverse its decision to rename a local public school, confirms that the meeting will be held at Fire Station #2, known locally as the Fenwick Fire Hall, starting at 7:00 PM. While the Mayor has agreed to ap-
Under pressure, Mayor to address email revelation, other E. W. Farr matters pear, says Beamer, DSBN officials associated with the school-naming process have either declined to attend or have not yet responded to the group’s invitation. DSBN Chair, Dale Robinson, to whom Augustyn’s email was addressed last June, has declined to appear, says Beamer, asserting that she would be
“on holidays.” The Voice was unable to independently confirm Robinsion’s intentions. She did not respond to repeated requests for comment on E.W. Farr-related matters before presstime. Beamer, whose group maintains an email list of some 580 residents, says that all members of the public are invited and encouraged to attend the meeting. “We would especially welcome parents and children who are unhappy with the name change,” she says, referring to the contentious decision by the DSBN to consolidate two Pelham See MEETING back page
HEN I WAS young, my father and I would go for long drives along the rural routes of Pelham. We’d blast George Thurgood and roll down the windows because we loved the smell of the breeze, the sensation of crisp Niagara wind beating our cheeks and tangling our hair against our summer-kissed skin. My father was not a sentimental man. He worked in factories and had a Gordon Lightfoot mustache and never shed tears over injuries. Yet something about the Pelham landscape, the hilly backdrop to his childhood and the childhoods of our ancestors, drew him in. He’d stop by a farm or a gathering of woods and, surrendering his manly veneer, tell me a story about the town. This place is precious. This is the earth that granted us life. Here is the place where we happened upon love or here is a site of devastation. On one particular drive sometime in the late ‘90s we stopped at a tree with a plaque. “This tree looks dead,” I said to my father. “It sure is getting there, Julie.” The Comfort Maple is supposedly Canada’s oldest See COLUMN SIX Page 14
Part 2 of 2: Coronation to embarkation
BY VOICE STAFF
A construction error was discovered following the opening of a traffic calming chicane on Haist Street north of Hwy 20 last Monday that prevented large vehicles from passing through. One resident living in the neighbourhood said he contacted the Town after seeing a small schoolbus get stuck as it tried to get through the new traffic calming measure. Later that day while driving behind a cement truck, he said that he became concerned for the public’s safety when the truck had to turn around because it couldn’t get through. “If a small school bus and a cement truck can’t make it through what about a fire
BY HEATHER McLAREN ROHRER
Special to the VOICE
A
Repair measures underway last week to correct a construction error in the chicane. truck or an ambulance?” he said. While waiting for the contractor to return to fix
the mistake, the Town has taken measures to temporarily allow passage for vehicles through the neigh-
VOICE PHOTO
bourhood in the short-term. Manager of Public Works Ryan Cook said that after discovering the issue with
the chicane the morning it first opened, the Town See CHICANE Page 5
Petition-inspired changes coming to 2017 Summerfest BY NATE SMELLE
The VOICE
Representatives from the Pelham Summerfest committee Candy Ashbee and Bill Gibson presented council with a final report on the 2016 Summerfest at the Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 21. Prompted by a story in the Voice in August about a merchant petition to move Summerfest from Pelham Street, in September Town staff met with various stakeholders to hear their complaints, promising at the time that changes in the way Summerfest was mounted would be con-
sidered. The main concerns identified during the community engagement process were security, parking, ensuring customer can access all businesses in town, and liability for damages. How to get all Pelham Street businesses to participate and finding ways to make it beneficial for them to set up a booth were also determined to be of high priority for the committee as they plan for next year’s event. Gibson told Council that the committee is addressing these concerns in a variety of ways. To improve parking, they intend to create bet-
ter signage for out-of-town visitors to designated parking areas and shuttle services. To make participation in Summerfest more enticing to local businesses, they plan to implement a tiered-charge for booths. Under the new system, Pelham Street business owners will be charged the least, other local businesses will pay a slightly higher fee, and vendors from outside Pelham will pay the most. In response to more specific issues for individual businesses, they will also slightly alter the footprint of the event and make adjustments to security. Another way the committee plans
Debbie
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to improve the 2017 Summerfest is by sponsoring and working with the organizers of the Thursday Night Bandshell Concert series to select the artist performing on the first night of Summefest. They also intend to make more use of the smartphone app they launched in 2016. "We are really going to push it this year," Ashbee said. “It really helps to get people to see what events there are so they can plan out where they are going. We will be able to actually help the merchants and local businesses adSee CHANGES Page 5
FTER LUNCH ON Saturday, Mum and Dad had my afternoon cut out for me. Mum had more brass than anyone I knew, and it had to be cleaned. In addition there was the set of silver fish-knives and forks which were never used, but which had to be cleaned and put back in their velvetlined box. Next was a walk to the newsagents to pay for the daily delivery of the Daily Mirror. As I said, Dad was a printer, but when he was 37 he had been rejected for a job, as being too old, by the printers of the Beano. For that reason, my favourite comic was not allowed in the house, but while I was paying the papers, the newsagent let me have a 'shoofty' at the Beano. I'd explained my predicament and he understood completely. Sundays were different again. Dad would play golf on summer mornings and billiards in winter. Then he'd stop for a 'refresher' at the local and would pick up the prawns, cockles, winkles or whelks we'd be having for tea later. Meanwhile, Mum was roasting the 'joint' and potatoes. I got to make the Yorkshire pud, and mint
See COLUMN SIX Page 14
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While shopping in Fonthill between Friday and Sunday, keep an eye out for Beavers, Cubs and Scouts in front of local stores with bushels of apples. As part of the annual Apple Day campaign, Scouting youth of all ages will be trading apples for donations. The yearly fundraising drive is an important way for young Scouts to connect with the communities they are serving, says Leah Marie of Scouts Canada. “The Apple Day campaign holds a great tradition of being able to have youth interacting within the communities they live in,” she says. “All of the Apple Day donations stay directly within the group that re-
The goal is to have these youth develop into confident and well-rounded individuals
ceives them, enabling youth to have experiences that build character, challenge them, and allow them to try new things. The goal is to have these youth develop into confident and wellrounded individuals, better prepared for success. Apple Day helps to achieve that.”
“Any money raised during Apple Day goes towards improving the Scouting program by providing more outdoor adventures for youth, camping equipment, canoes and paddles, training and many other endeavours that the youth want to experience,” says Marie. Scouts Canada has some 100,000 members across Canada, and carries out programs for boys, girls
Joining their principal, Karen Simpson, at the Sept. 19 Council meeting as part of a delegation from EL Crossley Secondary School, students Abby Loewen and Neenah Williams presented Council with a list of reasons that they should immediately approve the construction of the new sidewalk proposed along Hwy. 20. The asphalt side-
walk/trail is slated to be built between the south side of the road from Timmsdale Crescent to the high school. Because of the large volume of motor vehicle traffic travelling at high speeds through this area, and because of the necessity for students to tread this path on a daily basis, many residents would like to see the sidewalk go in sooner than later. After delivering to Council a petition containing
Many residents would like to see the sidewalk go in sooner than later the names of 450 students calling for a safer walk to school, Simpson handed the
podium over to Loewen and Williams to plead their case. Loewen told Council that because there are a lot of students who have work placements and coop placements during the school year, this is the only route for many of them to travel. As one of the students facing this predicament, Williams said she has had no other option but to walk along the dangerous highway.
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and youth ages 5-25. This year the 3rd Fonthill Group, which includes Beavers to Ventures (youth ages 5- 25) will be hitting the streets to drum-up support. Over the weekend, Scouts will be set up in Fonthill outside Sobeys, Tim Hortons, Target Gas station, Fonthill Shopping Plaza and the Pioneer Gas station at the corner of Hwys 20 and 24.
Town Council approves sidewalk to serve E. L. Crossley BY NATE SMELLE
The VOICE
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Second year Beaver with the 3rd Fonthill Group, Russell Letford offers a fresh apple to shoppers in Pelham during the 2015 Apple Day campaign. SUPPLIED PHOTO A longtime Canadian tradition, Apple Day began in 1932 in Saint John, New Brunswick, when Scouts handed out 21,000 apples as a way to say thank you to the community. In return for their generosity, many people offered them donations. From then on Scouts have reached out through Apple Day to raise funds for their programs.
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Column Six It doesn’t get better than Autumn
Longtime Scouting tradition dates to 1932
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Column Six
BY VOICE STAFF The District School Board of Niagara is requesting that the Town of Pelham cede a portion of Cherry Ridge Park for use as a soccer field to serve the students of the new Wellington Heights Public School, formerly the E. W. Farr Memorial Public School, in Fenwick. Currently under renovation and expansion, the new school will combine students and staff from the previous school and Pelham Centre, where classes are being held while construction continues. Two letters, containing virtually identical text but signed by different authorities, were sent last week to nearby residents of the park, as well as to parents of Pelham Centre students. “The DSBN is currently building onto Wellington Heights Public School on Alsop Drive,” states the letter. “The size of the school's addition means the existing small soccer field will be eliminated. The Town and the Board have been discussing the possibility of working together to create a field for both the school and the
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In an effort to bring further attention and deterrence to driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs, the Niagara Regional Police Service reports the names of those people who are charged with an alleged criminal impaired driving offence in the Region. None of the following charges have been proved in court. In addition to being charged, these individuals are also bound by a Ministry of Transportation 90-Day Administrative Driver’s License Suspension and are prohibited from operating a motor vehicle on a roadway. The public is encouraged to contact the Niagara Regional Police Service Traffic Safety Hotline or Crime Stoppers to report those who are driving in contravention of the suspension. The following individuals have been charged criminally with impaired driving by alcohol or drugs, driving with a blood alcohol concentration above 80 mgs of alcohol in 100 ml of blood, or refusing to provide a breath / blood sample. Jason PETRIE, 18, Niagara Falls Cory PROCTOR, 40, Niagara Falls Vanessa A. HEMPHILL, 22, St. Catharines Dariusz PORADA, 51, Niagara Falls Gurkirat S. GILL, 21, Amherst NY Anthony C. WINFIELD, 55, Buffalo NY Igor PASTERNAK, 53, Niagara Falls Eric SCHMID, 37, East York Edward A. REES, 27, St. Catharines Jahkobi COSTA, 20, St. Catharines Pavel MELNIK, 29, Rochester NY Juan C. BURITICA GALEANO, 21, St. Catharines Shayla L. SHARROCK, 32, Rochester NY Hakim NDARUBOGOYE, 21, St. Catharines Nancy L. DESHAIES, 53, Fort Erie Stephanie L. GAYNOR, 27, Buffalo NY Jason B. TODD, 47, Niagara Falls
“I start work at 2:30 PM and school lets out at 2:15 PM so I can’t take any other route,” Williams explained. “I have had friends, family, teachers and other community members reach out to me in the past about how this is unsafe and how there should be another alternative for us.” Looking ahead to winter, when she will need to walk this path three or four times See SIDEWALK Page 2
HERE IS NO BETTER time to cycle than Fall. It matters not whether you’re new to the sport, a seasoned recreational cyclist, racer, touring rider or mountain biker; we all have reason to look forward to autumn. Summer’s heat has faded, and the streams of sweat that ran from soggy helmets into our eyes are now just slight perspiration. Fitness is peaking from lots of saddle time, making those tough climbs of Spring a breeze in Autumn. It’s hard to beat the feeling of beginning a crisp, cool Fall ride with a slight shiver, knowing your efforts will soon warm you perfectly. The hues of Autumn are outstanding. A Pelham route as simple as following our southern boundary is one that would make most Toronto cyclists jealous, especially when our forests and fields are ablaze with colour. Begin from Harold Black Park, and zig-zag south along Effingham Rd toward the Welland River. If you’re new to cycling, it’s important to know south is the direction away from any hills. If you avoid the morning and evening weekday rush hours caused by those travelling through Pelham between Wainfleet See AUTUMN Page 3
Indulgence Bakery Mossimo’s Pelham Street Grille Sobeys Fonthill Peter Piper’s Pubhouse DeVries Fruit Farm Beamer’s Hardware & TV Fonthill Library Black Pearl Fish & Chips Bob’s Boys Antiques Moku’s Family Health Pharmacy Fonthill Fitness Fenwick Pie Company McDonald’s Fonthill Legion Semenuk’s Gas Bar Target Store Tim Horton’s Giant Tiger Pelham Town Hall Pub on the Hill Zee Lube Express Care Lazy Loon Minor Bros Stores Avondale Stores A-1 Market Sobeys South Pelham Grill on Canboro Pelham Library Ridge Berry Farm Circle-K
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Trying to have our cake and eat it too
The Voice of Pelham, January 24 2018
ANALYSIS
How the Town of Pelham ran out of cash
Page 3
"Internal borrowing" explained by accountancy experts...for the rest of us
S
HE CAN SEE YOUR eyes glazing over already. (The cake lady over there is watching your reaction.) Municipal finances are so dull that most of us will read anything other than a news story about them. Municipal finances are also of the utmost importance to town residents. What a given municipality does with its money determines everything about life in that town—most fundamentally whether people want to move to it, or move away from it. Because municipal money talk is so bloody boring, it’s easy for politicians to speak in bland soundbites, reassuring their constituents that all is well. After all, who will say otherwise? We’ve once again called on our team of accountancy experts to help explain, in plain English, how the Town of Pelham got itself, and us, into the mess we're in. Why don’t we have any cash? Why are roads going unrepaired? Why are capital projects (i.e., new stuff) being delayed until 2019 or later? In effect, the Town has robbed Peter to pay Paul— though don’t go calling the police just yet. The Town “internally borrowed” against its reserves. Now the reserves are essentially gone. We’ve done our best to set out the following for the lay reader (and the lay editor). You’ll still have to wade through a few unfamiliar terms. But such is the price of knowledge. Here we go.
What is a reserve? A reserve fund is a savings account set aside to meet future costs or unexpected events. The Town of Pelham has many reserve funds, from the water reserve, to the roads reserve, to the “physician recruitment” reserve. The Town is supposed to use reserves to pay for future capital projects (new stuff) or to smooth out operating costs that can fluctuate (clearing snow in bad winters, etc.). When reserves are dipped into, they are supposed to
BY VOICE STAFF be replenished within a short period. A reserve is supposed to be used for the purpose of its title. A Water Reserve is supposed to be used for water emergencies or future capital projects (new stuff, pipes, say) related to water. A Parkland Dedication Reserve is supposed to be on hand for parks. What is meant by “Internal Borrowing”? Internal borrowing is taking cash collected and set aside for one purpose, and spending it on something else. Borrowing internally means taking money from a reserve account (or something similar) and spending in a way that the reserve wasn’t intended for. How much Internal Borrowing has the Town done? Financial services firm KPMG, in its December report to Council, said that by of the end of 2016—13 months ago—the Town has internally borrowed some $11 million dollars. (Pelham's entire proposed operating budget for 2018 is about $16 million dollars.) Deposits and Deferred Revenue: $1.8 million Deferred Development Charges and Parkland Fees: $3.4 million Reserve and Reserve Funds: $5.8 million TOTAL: $11 MILLION Town Treasurer Teresa Quinlin seemed to suggest in her presentation on November 29 at E.L. Crossley high school that this internal borrowing figure may be even higher at the end of 2017. We won’t know this, however, until the Town releases its 2017 financial statements several months from now. Do reserve funds need to be repaid? Yes. At some point, actual money needs to be put back into each fund so that cash is in the bank to support the fund’s purpose. A reserve fund is supposed to be “liquid,” meaning that the money is readily available. The most liquid money
is cash, since it can be gotten and spent at any time. Some investments, such as bonds, are also liquid since they can be converted back into cash easily. Real estate, roads, and buildings are not liquid and do not serve the purpose of a reserve fund. Is “Internal Borrowing” specifically accounted for in the Town’s audited financial statements? No. The amount internally borrowed does not show up in any particular place on the Town’s audited financial statements. The amount internally borrowed is “offset” on the statements. This means that an asset (what the Town bought) and offsetting debt (where the Town got the money to pay for it) are “netted” against each other to make zero. Hang on for some technical talk. The reserves which are credit balances are fully shown on the balance sheet in the Liabilities and Surplus portion. The assets that the internal borrowing were spent on show up in the Capital Assets accounts (or other asset account they were used for), and the offsetting entry is simply shown as a reduction of the Cash balance on the balance sheet. Back to English. So the audited financial statements are correct? Yes and no. The amounts have been fully accounted for, so there is no technical misstatement. But it is difficult to judge the full extent of internal borrowing by looking at the statements alone. The Town should have reduced the balances in certain reserves by the amount of money that was taken from them. The Town could have— and likely should have— provided better explanations in the notes, specifying the amount of internal borrowing done. This way, anyone reading the financials could have easily seen what was happening.
The Town has said that the reserves are currently “represented by non-cash assets.” Is this an appropriate statement? No. If reserves are not represented by cash or similarly liquid assets, then the reserve balances cannot be used as reserves. They are essentially useless. Is “Internal Borrowing” included in the Town’s long-term debt? Officially, no. Practically, yes. Money internally borrowed needs to be returned to the reserve account it came from. Otherwise, reserve accounts are useless. Rather than dip into reserve funds, if the Town had taken loans to pay for projects as had been approved by Council, then the Town’s official long-term debt would accurately reflect its total liabilities. Empty reserve funds are a liability. How much debt did the Town have at the end of 2017, Including “Internal Borrowing”? Adding the internal borrowing amount of $11.1 million provided by KPMG to the official long-term debt of $33.5 million, plus the Town’s 2017 line of credit of $3 million, the total comes to $47.6 milion dollars as far as we know now. However, this figure could be even higher if additional internal borrowing occurred in 2017. The Treasurer has indicated that the Town did more internal borrowing in 2017 than it did in 2016. Is the Town borrowing more money this year? Based on loans already approved by the Region, the Town can receive an additional $15 million in 2018 to
fund the remaining costs of the Community Centre. The 2018 budget currently being debated by Council does not include additional borrowing this year. However, in December, Council approved an increase in its line of credit. More on that in a minute. The budget does show that the Town intends pay off new radios it bought for the Fire Department. It will pay the City of St. Catharines $450,000 over 10 years—$45,000 per year from the operating budget. The Town has also entered into lease agreements on vehicles, rather than buying them outright. These are non-optional payments. They will need to come from the operating budget each year, and may impact the Town’s annual debt repayment limit. It’s not clear whether the Town will actually take the Region’s loan of $15 million, or how it will pay it back if it does. The Treasurer’s cash flow report indicates that the current loans received for the Community Centre will run out at the end of January. The Town hasn’t said whether surplus land on Highway 20 that was for sale late in 2017 has actually sold, even though bids closed on the property on December 14. The Town had earlier said that the sale of surplus land would bring in $12 million dollars, and Community Centre fundraising would bring in an additional $3 million dollars. This would have allowed the Town to pay off the Region’s $15 million dollar loan (if it decides to take it) virtually immediately. One fly in that ointment: Donations may be announced and “pledged,”
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but the cash doesn’t actually come in right away. Donations are to be collected over a multi-year period, and in any case the Town appears to be well short of its announced $3 million dollar goal. Finally on the 2018 borrowing front, Council passed a resolution in December to increase its line of credit limit (a credit card on paper) from $3 million to $7 million. This extra $4 million may be used to pay everyday operating expenses, or it may be used to fund the Community Centre project in lieu of taking more money from the Region. The Town isn’t saying. How does the Town plan to pay back its “Internal Borrowing”? In her presentation at E.L. Crossley, the Town Treasurer pointed to the following sources of cash to repay the internal borrowing: Parkland Fees (from Developers) $3.6 million Stormwater Pond (from Developers) $1.4 million Wellspring Remnant Land Sale $1.1 million Summersides Road (Developers) $1.7 million SUBTOTAL $7.8 MILLION Loans to be taken out in 2019: $9.9 million TOTAL: $17.7 million dollars We have asked the Town and the Treasurer specifically which developers and over what timeframe the above amounts are expected to be recovered. No details have been provided. Parkland fees likely will not replenish the Parkland fund amounts borrowed in 2016 and earlier. It appears that 1200 new homes would have to be built to recover See MAKING SENSE Page 6
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The Voice of Pelham, January 24 2018
www.thevoiceofpelham.ca
OPINION
The opinions expressed in submitted commentary and letters to the editor are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the Voice of Pelham.
The Voice of Pelham is a 1211858 Ontario Limited publication David Burket, Publisher 2-1428 Pelham St., P.O. Box 1489, Fonthill, ON L0S1E0
As We See It The black comedy that no one's laughing at
A
T A CERTAIN POINT, the Town of Pelham’s continued insistence that its bank book is A-OK becomes comical. Councillor Gary Accursi and Mayor Dave Augustyn have now gone tagteam, defending the indefensible. Augustyn’s latest gambit is a return to the assertion that the Region is “bullying” Pelham through its scrutiny, a claim that he previously made, then abandoned, last year. Councillor Accursi stated in December that a public Q&A session was no longer needed, since the KPMG reports delivered to the Town raised no further questions—a baffling statement considering that Accursi had not yet read the just-received reports whose allegedly calming contents he confidently described. Last week, as the Mayor made misleading statements to Council about the Niagara Police Service Board’s budget, Accursi referred to the Police Board’s actions as, “creative accounting.” Perhaps even the Mayor grasped the hypocritical irony. He laughed nervously, and said, “Your words, Councillor.” While the Mayor and
Councillor Accursi are free to disagree with the wisdom of Regional budget practises, their efforts at finger-pointing are senseless.
Former Treasurer Cari Pupo isn't talking. If the Town has its way, she never will.
KPMG has confirmed that the Town systematically spent its reserve funds on projects that were supposed to have been paid for with loans. Whether this was done deliberately to make the Town look like it had less debt than it did remains unclear, as does who knew what, and when. Former Treasurer Cari Pupo isn’t talking. If the Town has its way, she never will. After KPMG’s revelation— confirming what former
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www.thevoiceofpelham.ca PUBLISHER & EDITOR Dave Burket publisher@thevoiceofpelham.ca NEWS WRITER Samuel Piccolo ADMINISTRATION Lori Gretsinger office@thevoiceofpelham.ca CONTRIBUTORS Carolyn Botari, Larry Coté, Nick Saltarelli, John Swart, Kirk Weaver
Councillor Marvin Junkin told the Voice when he resigned from Council—the Town decided to shift gears, claiming that the raided reserves had morphed into “non-cash assets.” A park is not a reserve. A road is not a reserve. Reserves are primarily an insurance fund. They are protection when unforeseen events happen—say, when a culvert collapses. How do we pay for road repairs with playground equipment? Poth Street and Sulphur Springs Drive are likely to stay closed for years because there is no money to repair them. What resident wouldn’t ask, “What if it’s my street next?” Of course, this reality hasn’t dampened the tagteam’s spirits. During budget discussions last week, the Mayor crowed about development charges theoretically paying off loans, concluding that Pelham’s debt compares favourably to nearby towns. In fact, the Town’s projections are dubious at best—there’s no real breakdown of how and when some $25 million will come in. The Mayor was also unSee COMEDY next page
Letters Pelham still a great place to buy a house Thanks for asking the question in your most recent Follow the Money column, Mr Pitt [What price progress? The real estate market may be telling us, Jan. 17, p. 5]. To refresh, you asked your readers: "Based on what you now know of this town and its growth and governance, if you were moving within the Region, or into the Region, where would you place Pelham on your list of places to spend a half million or more?" I would place Pelham in
contention near the top of the list, then decide what my priorities for moving about or into Niagara were. If those priorities included a vibrant community life, I'd rate Pelham highly. I'd consider our active libraries and their multitude of programs. I'd consider our concert band shell series, our Summerfest, our Pelham Art Festival, our Silver Stick hockey tournament, our Canada Day and Santa Claus Parades, our OctoberFest, and all the other great events that Pelham vol-
unteers spend so many hours contributing to the betterment of our community. If those priorities included opportunities for kids, parents and seniors to be active and engaged outdoors, I'd rate Pelham highly. We have a multitude of playgrounds with safe, modern equipment and clean urban parks. We have a community skateboard park, arenas, soccer and baseball fields. We have many kilometres of See CHOICE next page
CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS Member of Federal Parliament
Electoral District: Niagara West
Dean Allison, MP 4994 King Street Beamsville, ON L0R 1B0 Dean.Allison@parl.gc.ca 877-563-7900
Mayor of Pelham David Augustyn mayordave@pelham.ca 905-892-2607 Ext 317 Members of Pelham Town Council
Member of Provincial Parliament
Ward 1 Councillor Richard Rybiak rrybiak@pelham.ca 905-892-2105
Sam Oosterhoff, MPP 4961 King St. East, Unit M1 Beamsville, ON L0R 1B0 sam.oosterhoffco@pc.ola.org 905-563-1755
Councillor James Lane jlane@pelham.ca 905-892-2607
Electoral District: Niagara West-Glanbrook
Members of Niagara Regional Council Councillor David Augustyn mayordave@pelham.ca 905-892-2607 Ext 317 Councillor Brian Baty brian.baty@niagararegion.ca 905-892-5317 Town of Pelham 20 Pelham Town Square P.O. Box 400 Fonthill, ON L0S 1E0 905-892-2607
Ward 2 Councillor Catherine King cking@pelham.ca 905-658-8599 Councillor Gary Accursi gaccursi@pelham.ca 905-892-5528 Ward 3 Councillor John Durley jdurley@pelham.ca 905-892-5388 Councillor Peter Papp ppapp@pelham.ca 905-328-6008
Community Centre project updates: www.pelham.ca/pcc
Fonthill and District Kinsmen are accepting submissions for our annual
Pelham Citizen of the Year Award, 2017 Our 20th Award Anniversary Year The guidelines are... you cannot be a sitting politician, and must live or work in Pelham. The Citizen of the Year should exemplify volunteerism, and positive community activism. Submissions must be in writing, and postmarked no later than Friday, January 26, 2018
Send submissions to:
The Kinsmen Club of Fonthill & District P.O. Box 906, Fonthill, ON L0S 1E0
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Page 5
OPINION Letters
continued
Is that an echo I hear?
Can no longer believe anything Council says
The UK construction giant Carillion has collapsed into liquidation. In London, "The Times" reported, "The accounting watchdog has warned that it may launch an investigation into KPMG over its audit of Carillion…. KPMG, which has audited Carillion since its creation in 1999, came under fire from experts who questioned why the outsourcing company had imploded only months after being given a clean bill of health for its 2016 accounts." This is interesting in relation to the current situation in Pelham. Graeme Lamb Fonthill
It is a sad time when the activities of Pelham Town Hall, the Mayor and Council continue to cause all of this turmoil in our town. The students at E. L. Crossley, the next generation of resident taxpayers, are now involved and concerned enough to hold a monologue on January 23. Due to a lack of transparency, I no longer believe that anyone on Council is telling the whole truth, and as a result how can they be trusted to set a budget and spend our tax dollars in a
CHOICE
teer mix of long-time Pelham residents and newcomers wishing to become involved and improve our community. If those priorities included educational opportunities, I'd rate Pelham highly. E. L. Crossley is an excellent high school that offers academic, technology, and co-op programs, has many successful, character-building sports programs, and is fed by public schools with engaged teachers. Brock University is on our northern border, and Niagara College is our southern neighbour, both accessible via inexpensive public transit with services from Fenwick, North Pelham, and Fonthill. Priorities that would not rate high in my consideration are anticipated gains in property values, traffic congestion on entry and exit roads, and
municipal politics. Property values rise and fall and communities come in and out of favour, but there are certainties. If you live on the edge of the GTA, your community will eventually become larger, more populated, and more congested. Ask Milton, Grimsby or Port Hope. If your community has "small town charm" and lies within two hours of the GTA, there are folks that will want to enjoy your community, and will bring change to it, often for the better. Ask Ridgeway, Port Dover, Fergus or Peterborough. And eventually, your property values will rise. Would anyone suggest the inherent attraction of Bracebridge, Kelowna, or even Paris is significantly diminished because one has to drive by
commercial development to access their homes and neighbourhoods? Main arterial roads get commercial development, and communities strive to manage their neighbourhoods within. Ontario mandates municipal elections every four years, in which councils can be changed. If I am choosing the community that I wish to live in, contribute to, and raise a family in, I am considering a future much longer than four years. To answer your question Mr Pitt, yes, Pelham would still be, after 30 years, very high on my list of desirable communities in which "to spend a half a million or more." Thanks for asking. John Swart Fonthill
Town Director of Human Resources, Paula Gilbert, came the closest to giving it away last week, as she presented the community centre’s staffing plan to Council. Gilbert acknowledged that her request was for substantially fewer employees than she had initially envisioned. “I fully appreciate that the situation that we’re in, we did some cuts,” she said. Exactly how bad the “situation we’re in” actually is, remains to be fully and honestly explained, along with the how and why we got here.
Officially the Town asserts that all is smooth sailing. Unofficially it is scrambling not to drown in a sea of red ink before someone, anyone, throws it a life preserver. When the Mayor plays the “bullying” card to dodge the Region’s scrutiny, he cyni-
cally exploits a serious word and a genuine problem that he doesn’t remotely have. Some day his gamesmanship may look funny to future residents, looking back in the rear view mirror. Today, though, it’s just insulting.
continued from previous page rural roads with little traffic for cycling and walking, and one can launch a kayak from Pelham and paddle for hours along the Welland River. There's Bradshaw Park, E. C. Brown, the Berkhout Trail, the Steve Bauer Trail, and more. If those priorities included the opportunity for civic involvement, I'd rate Pelham highly. There's the Pelham Senior's Committee, the Pelham Active Transportation Committee, the Mayor's Youth Advisory Committee, the new Outdoor Art Committee, the Architectural Design Committee, the Municipal Heritage Committee, and others, all served by a volun-
COMEDY continued from previous page wise to compare Pelham’s financial situation to others in Niagara. KPMG revealed that the province socked Pelham with two “high” and four “moderate” indicators of risk, while nearby municipalities saw five lows and a single moderate. And other towns keep their reserve funds reasonably stocked with accessible money. The farce has become a game: everybody knows that the situation is dire, but no one can say it out loud.
prudent fashion? Their track record is tarnished, and our town is cash broke, but they found $155,000 to defend themselves against their own residents’ concerns? I am sure that their lawyer and KPMG are the only ones pleased. Now we will know how all of their activities, in camera and otherwise, will be seen through the eyes of the next generation, at E. L. Crossley on January 23 at 7PM. I hope the Mayor is proud of himself.
His actions have affected the whole community, not just what he calls a fringe group. Pelham needs a clean sweep of this Council, replaced with an attitude that is transparent, trusted, and communicates the whole truth to the community, the Region, and the province, without turmoil. The bullying has come from Pelham Town Hall's attitude, not the other way See NO TRUST next page
Thank You V U∏
SIGNE LINNEA BYBERG Aug 19, 1914 – Jan 9, 2018 The family of Signe Byberg wish to thank the many who helped, prayed, and respected our Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother, during her recent illness and passing. Thank you to the doctors and nurses at the Welland and Port hospitals for their caring and kindness. A special thanks to Dr. A. Kundi, and to the Pedlar Funeral Home for their professionalism and courtesy.
∏
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NEWSFLASH Tell us your story! Column Six presents tales of personal triumph, adventure, strange-but-true stories, life-changing events, and looks-back at our past. Did you conquer Everest or kick a bad habit? Did you meet your spouse-to-be in jail or on an African safari? Do you know where Hoffa’s buried? Write it down, send it in: publisher@thevoiceofpelham.ca (You won’t get rich, but you will get paid.)
Page 6
The Voice of Pelham, January 24 2018
www.thevoiceofpelham.ca
Making sense of "Internal Borrowing" Letters continued from Page 3 $3.6 million dollars, and while contractors are out there beavering away, we will not see 1200 new houses constructed in Pelham in the next 12 months—or possibly ever. As for taking out a loan in 2019 to pay off internal borrowing done in 2017 and earlier, that’s like getting a cash advance on one credit card to pay off the balance on another credit card. It does not reduce the Town’s debt. It just shifts it from one category to another. Council is now debating the 2018 capital budget. The proposed budget drastically cuts back expenses compared to what the Town projected it would spend this year. At the same time, capital projects (buying and repairing stuff) have been delayed to 2019 and beyond, and these projected expenses are much higher than were first proposed for this year. This raises an obvious question: How will these projects be paid for? The options are three: More internal borrowing, more loans taken out, or more property tax increases. Unusually, in her draft 2018 budget, Treasurer Quinlin has not included any five-year projections of reserves. In past years, these projections have been included. They take into account funding sources, use of development charges, park-
land dedication fees and projected capital spending. When asked why these projections were omitted, Quinlin did not answer, replying instead to a question that wasn’t asked. Did CAO Darren Ottaway, former Treasurer Cari Pupo, Mayor Augustyn, and Council know that “Internal Borrowing” was happening? When KPMG told Council that the Town’s reserve funds were largely depleted, neither the Mayor nor CAO Darren Ottaway seemed surprised. This is according to former Councillor Marvin Junkin’s recollection of the closed-door, September 5 meeting at which Council received the news. It is next to impossible that former Treasurer Pupo and CAO Ottaway were unaware that internal borrowing was occurring. Junkin said that he and his fellow councillors were taken by surprise. Another witness described a shocked silence greeting the news. Why would the Town use “Internal Borrowing” to pay for things rather than getting a loan to do so? As we’ve seen, internal borrowing isn’t technically (legally) considered longterm debt. By borrowing internally, rather than getting loans, the Town appeared to outsiders to have less debt than it did. Had this long-term debt
been shown on its balance sheet, the Town’s borrowing limit would have been lower. In 2016, the Region approved a $36 million loan for the new Community Centre.
It is next to impossible that former Treasurer Pupo and CAO Ottaway were unaware that internal borrowing was occurring
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NO TRUST continued from previous page around. If it wasn't for the fact that I love where I live and grew up here, I would consider moving away should Dave Augustyn continue to rule Pelham using his present political style of running our finances in to the ground, all under the guise of development. The Mayor should offer an apology for his performance to the people of Pelham, and not keep trying to avoid the issues through deflection. I am ashamed that he and his Council represent us. I look forward to watching the E. L. Crossley students’ perception on Tuesday. I am for development, but at what cost? I hope an OMB hearing will finally bring out the truth and stop the turmoil. I believe the only way to achieve this is with the Region's and the Province's help. Rick Kavanagh Fenwick
Keep at it This may explain former Councillor Junkin’s account of the closed-door meeting on September 5. Junkin says that the Treasurer told Council that if Infrastructure Ontario had known about the internal borrowing, the $36 million loan would likely not have been approved, not without special Ontario Municipal Board action. So why does all this matter? The bottom line is that the Town spent nearly all of its reserve funds, when, in most cases, it should have used loans to pay for projects. Loans were what Council initially approved. Internal borrowing made
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the Town’s debt look lower than its actual liabilities. This misrepresentation likely allowed the Town to qualify for a $36 million dollar loan that it would not otherwise have received. The decision to empty its
continued
reserve funds, rather than seek loans, has already put the Town in a risky position. The Town now has little flexibility to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. This is seen in Poth Street and Sulphur Springs Drive, two public roads that are likely to be closed for years because the Town has no money to repair them. Finally, the financial strain on the Town likely means that there will be little money for capital projects (buying and repairing stuff) in the coming years. Expensive leasing of equipment, vs. purchasing, will be the new normal. Concludes one of our accountancy team members: “By borrowing so extensively from the reserves, the Town has positioned all projects at likely the same risk level as the Community Centre. I would rate the risk level of the Community Centre in the high to extreme range. This risk is based on expected shortfalls, in my estimation, in real estate proceeds, donations, and operating losses. I would expect a combined shortfall of $10 million over five years and $15 million over 10 years. The closure of roads tells us that we cannot fund repairs to the infrastructure we already have. More taxes and reduced real estate values are on the horizon.”
This paper has changed, and has become a must-read. Thank you for all that you have done to keep us informed in this community. Keep up the good work. Bob Biggar Fonthill
Don't forget who put you there There needs to be a change of "mindset" for those who represent the taxpayers, who do work on behalf of the taxpayers. They are not a private company with personal goals attempting to enrich themselves. They are elected by the people of Pelham. The perception is such that numerous residents feel Pelham is in over its head with financial debt. Mr. Augustyn, Pelham cannot move on without first knowing the extent of its financial responsibilities and how we arrived here. Colin Powell once said, "Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure in leadership." L. Morgan Fonthill
No witches, but plenty of hunters It seems that our Mayor is feeling persecuted by what is referred to as a "witch hunt.” Now, I think most of us would agree that there are no such things as the witches portrayed in fairy tales. What I do know is that there are hunters. One thing I know about them is that they are not going to spend their time, energy and resources if there is no game to be pursued. In this case, possibly the hunters are
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tracking those elusive, often spoken-of but rarely seen, qualities of truth, honesty and accountability. I find it interesting that the Region is being demonized as the hunters, when what I see is that they are trying to get to the bottom of Pelham's finances—finances that can affect the well-being of the entire Region. Many Pelham residents have asked questions about our books and have either not received answers or have received unsatisfactory answers. The next step was to go to the Region for help. The special council meeting at E. L. Crossley to "answer all the questions" did no such thing. The result was to create more questions, none of which were ultimately answered when Town Council decided to cancel its promised public follow-up Q&A session. You have to wonder: Was the Town ever honestly planning on having that meeting? I feel as though we're trapped in some snippets of movies. For example, Star Wars, “These are not the droids you're looking for.” How about this one from the Wizard of Oz. Toto pulls back the curtain shielding the “Great and Powerful Oz,” and the deceit and fakery are revealed. October can’t come fast enough. Marianne Stewart Fenwick
www.thevoiceofpelham.ca
The Voice of Pelham, January 24 2018
Page 7
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Page 8
The Voice of Pelham, January 24 2018
www.thevoiceofpelham.ca
The Conversation
Politics or bullying? Pelham's mayor says he's being bullied by the Region. We sit down with expert Tony Volk to see if there's anything to it. BY SAMUEL PICCOLO
The VOICE
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N RESPONSE TO LAST WEEK’S REGIONAL Audit Committee’s motion, which called on the province to investigate Pelham’s finances, Mayor Dave Augustyn called the Region’s actions “bullying.” This is a tactic Augustyn has used before. Last year, he complained that scrutiny of Pelham’s finances was politically motivated bullying—payback for Pelham’s involvement in other regional matters.
Augustyn’s use of the term raised eyebrows then, and his return to it last week elicited similar responses from Regional Councillors and residents alike. To dive deeper, the Voice reached out to Brock University’s Tony Volk. Volk is a professor in the Department of Child and Youth Studies, and has published extensively on issues surrounding bullying. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity. Piccolo: To make a long story short, the Town borrowed from its own reserves, leaving it with no cash on hand. Then it took out substantial new loans for a community centre. The residents of Pelham have been appealing to the Region to investigate the Town, so that people can know exactly what happened and why it happened. The Mayor has repeatedly called this sort of investigation “bullying.”
Some ask whether this really constitutes bullying, considering that it’s legislative action trying to investigate the Town, and not really a particular person. We wanted to get your thoughts on what bullying is, and whether in any sense of the word this situation is bullying. Volk: In the sense that I view bullying, and the sense that many researchers view bullying, there are a couple of criteria that are difficult to apply to this scenario. The first and most important thing about bullying is that you have to have a power imbalance. In this case, the power is public pressure—is that greater than the power that the Mayor wields? The fact that public pressure can’t get the Mayor to do what it wants suggests that no, it’s not. It’s not pressure against an individual, per se—this isn’t like a thousand people telling someone to jump off a bridge. There you’ve got
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real social pressure. This is asking for a job to be undertaken, and a job that’s based on following people’s opinions in particular. It’s hard to argue that the voters are bullying the Mayor if they don’t vote for him. Now, if people were personally harassing the Mayor, and calling him up in the middle of the night, those sort of tactics, that could be considered bullying. But if all they’re doing is adding to a petition, then it’s not really feasible to consider it bullying. The other aspect is that it has to do harm to an individual. Again, if the bullying has a personal tone against the Mayor, affecting his mental health, that would be harmful. On the other hand, if this is simply stress that comes with the job of public service, that would not be harmful. Getting somebody to do
something they don’t want to do isn’t necessarily bullying. There are multiple examples of this—parents get their child to do something, but it’s not harmful, especially in the long run, if you make a child take a time-out if they keep colouring on the wall. In this situation, it looks like the Mayor is suggesting that it’s the Region, or the Audit Committee in particular, that’s bullying on behalf of the residents—it’s the residents who are lobbying the Region to do something. There was a meeting on a Monday morning, and several residents in the audience lobbied the Regional Councillors in advance. But it’s a legislative effort—the Audit Committee passed a motion essentially asking for the province to conduct an investigation. [If it’s a power imbalance, then] it
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seems like it’s a very formalized power imbalance, a legal one. In that case, it could be a power imbalance, but that would be more akin to the parenting scenario. This is a behaviour that presumably—unless the law itself is unfair— does not cause harm. It’s there to protect the Region’s finances, and its application does not in any way directly target a mayor, unless the mayor has done something improper. It’s difficult to call that a harmful behaviour, when it’s doing what it’s legally intended to do, which is safeguarding the system. I’m going with your narrative, and I can’t claim to have in-depth knowledge of this context, but from what you’ve presented, that doesn’t seem to meet the criteria of harm. It’s goal-directed, it involves a power imbalance, but it’s
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not harmful if that measure is for the public good, and doesn’t specifically affect a proper mayor. I guess it’s inevitable that it appears as though it’s affecting a particular individual, in that the Mayor is representing the Town in a sense. The Mayor’s at the crux of this as a figurehead, but only in the same way that in the investigation of a company the CEO is on the hot seat. The Canada Revenue Agency audited me and my wife once because they wanted to get our childcare receipts. That’s a government organization that has more power than I do, and there was a specific goal, to make sure that I wasn’t committing fraud. But it wasn’t bullying, because it’s not harmful. You can’t argue that it was out to harm me unless I’d done something wrong. You can’t argue that the Mayor is being harmed by this behaviour. It’s part of his job to provide financial accountability, and the only harm that would come is if they find misdoings. If they [conduct an investigation] and the Mayor’s exonerated, I presume that it would help his reputation. Because your information on this is largely coming from what I say, I want to make sure that I try and imagine how the Mayor would defend himself. He’d say that because it’s a political body, this is politically motivated in the sense that some of the members of the committee are politically opposed to him. See EXPERT next page
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The Voice of Pelham, January 24 2018
THE FONTHILL LIONS CLUB: TED GULA IS 2017 LION OF THE YEAR Last summer, Ted Gula was responsible for set up of the Fonthill Lions food trailer at Pelham Supper Market every week starting at 2PM with his shift ending at 9PM, when he returned the trailer to the Lions clubhouse on Hurricane Road. During the many hours in between he could be found at the barbeque, serving up sausages with a smile. “Lion Ted Gula is part of the backbone of our Club, says Fonthill Lions Club President Robert Yungblut. “Whenever we need a worker for any of our projects we can count on him to be there. We are proud to add Ted’s name to our list of Lions whose legacy is engraved on our Lion of the Year award trophy.” SUPPLIED PHOTO
EXPERT continued from previous page The political system is set up to be conflicting—“adversarial” is a better word. That’s true of any political party. Once you have the votes, you can bully, and they tend to in a sense bully the opposition. Trudeau can pass whatever he likes at the federal level and say to hell with the opposition. They don’t have the votes to stop him. Harper tried doing that when he had a minority, and tried cutting the funding of the other parties, and they went to the Governor General, because he didn’t have the power to do it. But if he had the power, he could’ve yanked the rug out from under them, which would have been bullying. To single out [an investigation of Town finances] as one of bullying, [then] everything that’s done politically is potentially bullying. Within that context, you could maybe make a technical argument that there’s bullying, but it would be such a narrow version of bullying that it’s not really applicable in a moral or practical sense. Because again, that’s how the system is set up. Whoever has the votes gets the power. It’s institutionalized, adversarial behaviour…if you want to call
that bullying that would be stretching the use of the word. There should be another word for it, unless it’s a political situation in which an individual has personal information publicized by a political opponent, or the recipient of sustained personal attacks. Thinking about it more, I think that you could make a strong case that there is not a power imbalance. If the CRA is auditing me, I have the recourse of launching legal action, saying that they have no right to do this, or challenging their right to do this. Now, in the case of the CRA versus me, maybe there still is a power imbalance. But a mayor’s office ought to have sufficient resources to challenge an unfair use of power by the Region that specifically harms a mayor without serving the public good. I would think that the Mayor has enough resources at his disposal, I’m sure he has legal counsel of his own. Yes. The Town sent its lawyer to the Region, and sent a letter warning of legal action, and so forth. So he has a recourse to defend himself. Power is a difficult thing to define. You can be smaller than somebody physically and [still] have power over them physically. A good
rule of thumb is: Can the person effectively fight back? In this case, I would imagine that the Mayor has means of fighting back. If the Mayor is able to fight back effectively with a lawyer, because this is an unfair use of power, then it’s not bullying. If the Mayor has no legal recourse, and this is grossly unfair, and the Council is deliberately exploiting it because of that reason, then yes. But none of those things seem to apply here. A common sentiment we’ve heard seems to be that bullying is not the right word—it conjures to mind visions of malevolent schoolyard behaviour, actions in elementary school and high school that can be traumatizing, compared to something political. I would say that the political system is adversarial by design. It has checks and balances to prevent gross incidences of bullying and abuse, and I presume the Mayor has access to those checks and balances. If those checks and balances fail, then either his case wasn’t deserving, or there are flaws in the system. But that’s not the same thing as saying that the Council is trying to bully the Mayor. Thanks very much. I appreciate your time. You’re very welcome.
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Kunda road extension considered Three options offered for public comment BY SAMUEL PICCOLO
The VOICE
A public information session about a potential road extension for a new Fonthill development was held at Fire Hall #1 last Wednesday evening. The meeting was organized by Upper Canada Consultants (UCC), the firm who produced the three possible plans, and attended by some 20 local residents. The proposed development is in the Kunda Park neighbourhood, near Stella and John Streets, and adjacent to Glynn A. Green Elementary School. Currently, John Street runs east-west and deadends at Beechwood Crescent. In UCC’s first option, the street, storm water sewer, and water main would be extended to the east, and to the north, linking the south side of the development to the west side. In option two, only the sewer and water main would be extended into the development. “Number three is our ‘do-nothing’ option,” said UCC engineer Stan Pijl, referring to the option in which the sewer and water main come entirely from the west exit to the development, off Stella Street. Adam Keane, the other UCC engineer at the meeting, explained the process to a group of residents huddled around one of the sketches. “There is a provincially significant wetland in the area owned by the developer,” Keane said. “No building will occur on it, but part of this proposed road in Option A, and the pipes in Option B, would cut through a portion of the wetland.” Keane said that under the Planning Act, no building
of any kind is allowed on wetlands. But the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment allows for certain types of construction on wetlands, including roads, sewers, and streetlights. Of the three options, Pijl said that the first is the preferred one, since it will allow for two entrances to the new neighbourhood. However, he said that the second would be less disruptive than the first to the wetland, since pipes could be installed and then covered with sod. Pijl also explained that the present storm sewer dead-ends at the bottom of John Street, meaning that it often overflows after heavy rains, draining more water into the wetlands. “The extension of the sewer would allow for proper circulation,” he said. UCC and the developer, Sterling Realty, are more than halfway through the process, and the meeting last Wednesday was part of mandatory public consultation. Keane said that the end is approaching, though advised that residents still have until February 2 to submit comments, and that even after that, any member of the public could launch an appeal. “The Minister would then have broad authority to force us to re-do parts of this study process, or do the whole thing over again,” he said. Some residents in attendance mentioned the wetlands as a concern, though most were preoccupied by the increase in traffic that the new development will likely bring. John DeLisio, the presi-
UCC’s Adam Keane, right, speaks to Bill and Muriel Heska, who live near the proposed road extension.
dent of Sterling Realty, assured residents that this won’t be a major issue. “[If Option A is chosen] there are three possible exits,” he said. Shelly Marr-Mouck, who lives on Stella, asked DeLisio about the density of the proposed development. “It’ll be less dense than the other development that’s happening in East Fonthill,” said DeLisio, saying that his firm would be bringing forward a plan of the actual development within two to three months. DeLisio added that he hoped that building would begin within the next year or two. Marr-Mouck was seemingly realistic about the likelihood of the development, but said that she wanted see the upsides of the road extension. “What I’d really like to see is the road going all the way out to Port Robinson,” she said to DeLisio. “Because in the winter, John Street is too hard to drive uphill.” Marr-Mouck said that the narrowness and ditches on Merritt Street make it uncomfortable to drive on in
the winter. “I put a lot of time into looking into going to Port Robinson,” said DeLisio. “The school board wouldn’t sell me the two acres of land—that’s a whole bureaucracy, and it’s not going to happen.” DeLisio said also that opening up the subdivision to Port Robinson could have invited drivers eager to avoid the stoplight at Port Robinson and Pelham Street, meaning that it could have increased traffic in the neighbourhood. “We’ll just have to salt the road better on John Street,” he said. This area of the Kunda Park development was to have originally been developed more than 30 years ago, a fact noted by Bill and Muriel Heska, who have long lived in Pelham. “The Kunda family owned all the land—that’s why you have the street names of John, Stella, and Vera. They were all Kundas,” said Muriel. “The original site plan for the development is still on a sign. It’s faded, but you can still see it, more than 30 years later.”
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presence of the Five-Lined skink, and that the the MNR does not “consider this area Common Five-Lined skink habitat.” Following this clearance from the MNR, DeLisio began clearing trees from the property. When speaking to the consultants present, MarrMouck said that for those whose homes back on to the proposed development, the planned construction is upsetting. “It’s a topic you avoid during backyard barbecues in the summer,” she said. “It’s the NIMBYism at play.” Marr-Mouck said that she was realistic about the prospect of homes being built, that the developer has a right to build on his own property. She wanted assurances that the wetland will be preserved, and was placated when DeLisio said that he hopes to transfer it to the Town. Acknowledging it ironic, considering her assessment of opposition to the development, Marr-Mouck said that she would be pleased if the development brought something that would benefit her. “For instance, will there be a pedestrian connection to the Steve Bauer trail?” she asked. “Yes,” said DeLisio. “There will be.”
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Keane speculated that market forces made the development unpalatable at the time, and the property has laid dormant ever since. “You can see here on our map the boundary of the original development area,” he said. “It was done before the wetland was designated, so it was actually bigger than the area that will be developed now.” Keane noted that while the area was bigger then, houses are more densely built now, so the smaller development area will not necessarily result in fewer new homes. DeLisio’s company has been planing to build on the property for some time, though visible progress has been relatively slow, at least until now. One cause for delay was the discovery of a Common Five-Lined skink near the property some years ago. The skink is a small, endangered lizard, and the discovery of one prompted further study to determine whether the land was a skink habitat. DeLisio declined to comment about the initial discovery of the skink, though he asserted that no other skinks had been found during the study period. In October, the Ministry of Natural Resources’ Michelle Karam said that surveys had not confirmed the
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Tougher than cockroaches? Don't count on the cold to kill ticks. Resilient little suckers finds ways to survive BY VOICE STAFF For several days over the holidays, it was very cold. Between grumblings about potentially frozen pipes, at least one Pelham resident was heard to say: “Maybe this cold will at least kill off some of those ticks.” Even the most cuddly of insects receive little love, and the tick is particularly despised. It’s easy to understand why. Ticks are small and silent; they can crawl up your entire body and lodge themselves on your scalp without you noticing, and then they can engorge themselves on your blood with no advertisement. Worse, some ticks in Niagara carry lyme disease, an often debilitating illness for which there is insufficient treatment. In the first nine months of 2017, 12 cases of lyme disease were reported in the region. Ticks are nearly indestructible, too. You can try to crush them, but anything short of a hammer blow or a pinch between pliers is unlikely to be effective. They will drown eventually, though flushing them down the toilet is sure to bring nightmares of giant, mutant ticks crawling through the sewers, waiting for the right moment to climb back up a household drain to take revenge. So it’s no surprise that some hoped that the cold snap would have made a substantial dent in Niagara tick numbers. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely. All insects—including ticks—have natural measures that they use to protect themselves in the winter. Animals are typically divided between warm-blooded and cold-blooded, with the vast majority falling into
the latter category. “Only mammals and birds are warm-blooded,” says Jeff Stuart, a professor in Brock University’s biology department. “Insects are cold-blooded, though in the winter they’re not doing anything at all— they’ve all hibernated.” Stuart called this hibernation a “low-metabolic state,” meaning that the bugs have found a place to hide where they won’t be eaten—or crushed by a hammer-wielding human. Stuart also mentions that some insects—like grandparents—avoid the cold altogether by migrating south. He points to monarch butterflies, which fly thousands of kilometres to winter in Monterrey, Mexico. Until the temperature drops below freezing, ticks will continue searching for a tasty mammal host. If they have found that mammal host before the cold strikes, ticks will live off the host for the winter. If not, they will burrow into the ground, hiding themselves in wood mulch, or someplace similar. Snow cover can also provide insulation. “But when it gets cold enough, the next problem is that they could freeze,” says Stuart. To counteract this, insects produce substances that lower the temperature at which they will freeze. “Water begins to freeze at zero degrees,” says Stuart. “When salt is added to water, however, the temperature needed to freeze the water drops.” The same principle is at play in the bodies of insects, though the substances produced are typically sugars.
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Even though these sugars can help to protect insects, Stuart says that when it gets cold enough, the protection is not complete. “All insects that live around here also have anti-freeze proteins,” says Stuart. The proteins work to prevent the growth of ice in an insect’s body. “The proteins attach to exposed areas to prevent ice from forming,” says Stuart. “If you had a donut, the proteins would be the sprinkles on top to stop ice from reaching the donut.” Stuart explains that ice causes damage to bodies because it has sharp edges that puncture the cells in tissue, destroying them. Warm-blood animals do not produce these anti-freezing proteins, make them (and us) susceptible to frostbite. As Stuart explains, frostbite occurs when ice crystals damage the flesh, often meaning that the affected body part must be amputated. Recent research has looked into whether these anti-freezing proteins could find use in mammals.
“We wanted to ask if you put antifreeze [proteins] in mammals, can you protect them from a cold injury,” said Erol Fikrig, a professor of medicine at Yale University, in a 2015 news release. In a study led by Fikrig, researchers took anti-freezing proteins from a tick and introduced it to mice. Follow a week of exposure to the cold, 40 percent of mice who had received the proteins had visible signs of frostbite, while 89 percent of the mice who hadn’t received the proteins did. “This study shows that if you put an antifreeze protein into warm-blooded animals, it does elicit antifreeze activity and it can protect the animal from frostbite,” said
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Fikrig. The study’s authors concluded that more research was needed on the matter, but potential benefits of the technology could allow organs for transplant could remain in cold storage longer, and the technology could help the treatment of some diseases that result in cold sensitivity. For most humans, however, the results of the study are but more indication of the hardiness of ticks. In 2012, researchers in New York found that exposure to extreme cold (lower than zero Fahrenheit) only just increased ticks’ chances of dying. Disease ecologist Rick Ostfeld told the Poughkeepsie Journal in 2014 that the
increased mortality "only occurred at super-cold temperatures and it wasn't a clear die-off, just an increased probability of dying.” Even then, more than 80 percent of the studied ticks were still alive after the cold weather. Researchers also said that the likelihood of tick survival is dependent on more factors than mere cold, including humidity levels and amount of leaf litter, making it difficult to draw direct conclusions about the effect of the cold upon ticks. Some scientists hope that an increased presence of predatory animals will curb the spread of lyme disease, since white-footed mice are frequent carriers of the ticks that have the disease. The mice have a high tolerance to the parasites, and appear uninterested in the grooming practices that would remove the ticks. In several different studies, it was found that in areas with higher presence of foxes, weasels, fishers, and martens, the predators appeared to break the cycle of infection. While this may be reason for hope, many of these predators exist now in much fewer numbers. Coupled with the apparent resilience of ticks to the cold, and considering that female ticks lay thousands of eggs at a time, it’s probable that come spring there will be as many ticks around as ever.
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workers. Pay $14/hour, 40-60 hours per week, must have own PELHAM LIBRARY CARD MAKING WORKSHOP Looking for seasonal/ transportation, must be able Putting on an event? full time help. to handle 50 lbs. comfortably, Make six cards with fall themes, learning a variety of techniques. Materials Applicant must be able working in rural area outdoors town! to are workprovided. min. 40-60 At time of all registration, weather conditions. Planting, please enquire Tell aboutthe tools needed. hours/week in any cultivating, irrigating crops Community Event Tues.,conditions Sept. 16 10 – 12:30. $10. Please register ahead.Classified Visit www.pelhamweather and and hoeing crops strawberries ads are weekends.Lifting 50 lbs and apples. No education, no library.on.ca or call 905-892-6443 for more details. available in blocks of 30 comfortably is required. experience required. Apply in words for $8.85 + HST. Jobs included pruning, person, 1367 Balfour Street, Planting trees, thinning Fenwick Ontario from 10 – 5, Ad booking and payment FABULOUS LIONS FISH FRY and harvesting fruit,FENWICKMonday – Friday. deadline is Thursday packing and sorting Tasty treats with funds heading straight back into the Noon community. Haddock, prior to week of fruit. No Experience CUSTOM MILL required. Education frenchNofries and much more. Runs Sept. 9 from 4-7 p.m. publication. required, Must have Portable sawmill service. I will Payment may be made own transportation. Min come to your home or farm and over the phone by credit wage $14.00/hour. custom EQUIPMENT mill your logs. Firewood PELHAM MINOR HOCKEY SALE card, or in person at our Please drop resume & lumber also available. Call offBuy, at 825sell Canboro Rd, used Rob or trade equipment the Pelham Arena. Aimed tocheck. provide office by cash or Patterson,at905-401-4948 Fenwick Ontario L0S riverwood@primus.ca. Thanks for Sept. supporting cheaper options for players in this upcoming season. Runs 6 from 1C0
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Tuesday Evenings, 7:00Week of 7:45 pm at Holy Trinity EXHIBITION January 22 Church 1557 Pelham St. Rodeo, games and live entertainment headline this years exciting event. It Fonthill. Posted Call a Voice runs from Sept. 11-14 atFor themore Welland Fairgrounds. information or to January 18 Service register please email Sarah Rose at Directory BIG MOVE CANCER RIDECentral beautifulmindtraining@ to The professional Big Move Cancer RideRegion is a non-competitive Ads included ride taking place on Sept. gmail.com or call get the job done 7. Proceeds for the Big Move 905-701-2460 stay in Niagara and support the Walker Fam-
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WALKING CLUB Interested walking in Pelham? JoinEvents them Tuesdays at the Pelham Arena Places of inWorship and from 9-10 am and Thursdays at Fonthill Bandshell for 9-10:30 am. There First Presbyterian Tidings Church of God please contact jcook@ Pelham Evangelical Friends Church is no Church fee for this program. For Glad more information, 602 Metler Rd., Fenwick 1 Pancake Lane, Fonthill 940 Haist St., Fonthill pelham.ca or call 905 892-2607, ext 329. Fonthill Baptist Church 1414 Pelham St., Fonthill
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Niagara police chaplain receives medal BY VOICE STAFF The Reverend Dr. Gary Page, a chaplain with the Niagara Region Police, was awarded the Ontario Medal of Good Citizenship last Wednesday at Queen’s Park. After returning home to Welland the following day, Page said that he was honoured to have received the medal, which he said is the second highest that the province bestows. “I first learned that the police service had nominated me for it back in the fall,” he said. “Even after I learned that I was going to receive it, I had to keep it secret until yesterday.” Page was accompanied by his wife and children, and by NRP Chief Bryan MacCulloch. Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell and Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Laura Albanese presented the award to Page, as well as the other 11 recipients of the 2017 prize. The award is ostensibly for long-term volunteering, and in Page’s case, a culmination of a lifetime devoted to community service. Professionally, Page was a teacher for more than
40 years, over the course of which he taught “everything but grade four.” He began teaching elsewhere in the province, though moved to Niagara several decades ago work as a minister in addition to his job Monday to Friday. Eight years ago, Page began volunteering as a chaplain with the NRP. Chaplains are given a rank of Inspector with the police service, and have numerous responsibilities, from counselling officers (Page has a PhD in counselling), going on ridealongs, overseeing funerals, and conducting weddings. When he began, chaplains were requested to work at least 20 hours per week, and though the minimum now is just 10, Page said that most of the six on the force still work at least 20. “Sometimes, we have to intervene with the public on the streets, too. There was one chaplain who talked a fellow down who was about to kill himself, and another who knocked a fellow out of a car after a chase. These things aren’t in the job description, but if you’re there, you help out,” said Page. Page emphasized that with the job of chaplain, “it
isn’t about our own faith.” He said that he and the others work with officers with many different religious practises, including no faith at all. “We’ve even had a chaplain with a Hindu background,” he said. In addition to his work as a chaplain, Page is a founding board member of Jericho House Youth Leadership, a centre in Wainfleet that offers leadership programs for young adults. Page is also a board member at the Matthew House Refugee Ministry of Fort Erie, which provides “assistance to refugee claimants, refugees, newcomers to Canada and to women and children affected by family breakdowns such as divorce, domestic violence and sexual abuse.” Over the years, Page has housed people in need in his own home. “You do what you can,” he said.
Opposite, Dr. Gary Page is presented with the Ontario Medal of Good Citizenship by Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell and Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Laura Albanese last Wednesday at Queen’s Park. BRYAN MACCULLOCH PHOTO
Page 14
The Voice of Pelham, January 24 2018
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Hammering out Budget 2018, Round Two Mayor calls Development Charges debt a positive; HR Director details Community Centre staffing BY VOICE STAFF After bumping up against its 10 PM curfew the week before, Town Council again discussed the 2018 draft budget last Monday evening. Treasurer Teresa Quinlin began where she left off the previous week, with the capital portion of the budget— that is, money to be spent on large projects. Quinlin and Director of Public Works Andrea Clemencio went through each of the proposed capital expenditures, before Quinlin outlined the Town’s long-term debt. As of the beginning of 2018, the Town has about $15.1 million dollars in operating debt, and $18.3 million dollars in debt projected to be paid for with development charges. This adds up to some $33.5 million dollars. “There’s lots of rhetoric about debt,” said Mayor Dave Augustyn, “and then there’s facts. The debt for operating—if you were going to go for a per capita comparison, it would be the fifteen million. And then eighteen million is funded by development charges.” Augustyn objected to some calculations of Pelham’s per
capita debt which have combined the operating and development charge debt. “It doesn’t make sense to do that,” he said. “Because capita—i.e people—aren’t paying for that eighteen million. As the new homes are constructed, and over a period of time, it’s going to be paid that way. Folks like to mix it all together, maybe because they don’t understand it, maybe because they do understand it, and they like to mix it all in. Fifty-five percent of our debt is going to paid by future growth.” This assertion is disputed by a financial expert consulted by the Voice. “The Mayor seems to think that debt funded by development charges is not a big deal,” the expert said. “But debt funded by development charges—especially over a longer period—is much riskier, because development charges are not a guaranteed and stable source of revenue.” The expert noted that development charge debt must be included when an annual debt repayment limit is calculated, but development
Councillor Richard Rybiak. VOICE PHOTO charges do not count as a revenue source in the calculation. “P r o p e r t y - t a x-f u n d ed debt is less riskier by far because property taxes are a relatively stable revenue source,” the expert continued, explaining that the Town’s receipt of development charges depends on speculated growth. “It is actually the opposite of what the Mayor is saying—red flags should go up when such a high level of
debt is going to be funded by development charges.” Councillor Gary Accursi was left upbeat by the Treasurer’s presentation. “It’s also important to point out that our current debt is at 15.6 of our 25 percent [annual repayment limit],” said Accursi. He said that he had done his own calculations and found that the Town could borrow some $30 million more dollars, for a total debt of $64 million, and remain
within the 25 percent annual repayment limit. “So all of the outcry, and all of the fact that we are at our debt limit, or we have exceeded our debt limit, makes no sense,” said Accursi. “I think it’s important for the public to understand that we’re well within our debt limit, and we’re on safe ground.” Regional Audit Committee Chair Tony Quirk said that Accursi’s calculations are correct, but that his conclu-
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sion is not. “What he’s missing is that the Town still has to find the cash each year to make the additional payments, and those payments would have to come out of [taxes],” said Quirk. Quirk added that Accursi seemed to forget that the Town has $14 million categorized as so-called temporary spending, in addition to, “$7.8 million borrowed for reserves, a back-log of $9.9 million in new debt authorized not issued, and a further $7 million in deferred projects.” Added to the Town’s existing debt, this totals $69 million dollars. “Even if he can find a lender who will do the 30 years at 3.5 percent, he is still short $5 million,” said Quirk. “And, of course, no new projects would be able to be funded.” Quirk said that the most accurate way to determine how much a municipality can borrow should take into account provincial Municipal Affairs indicators, which assess a municipality’s overall financial health. In its recent report, the financial services firm KPMG See BUDGET next page
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BALLOONING INTEREST Grade 6 student Jinja Shepherd explains her experiment on static electricity at the Glynn A. Green Public School's annual science fair last Friday. See story, page 3. NATE SMELLE PHOTO
Public meeting tonight on school issues BY VOICE STAFF As questions continue to mount regarding an email that Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn quietly sent to a District School Board of Niagara trustee last summer, Augustyn has agreed to address the issue at a public meeting scheduled for this evening, Wednesday, Feb. 8, in Fenwick. Nancy Beamer, speaking for “Names Matter,” a Pelham citizens group lobbying the DSBN to reverse its decision to rename a local public school, confirms that the meeting will be held at Fire Station #2, known locally as the Fenwick Fire Hall, starting at 7:00 PM. While the Mayor has agreed to ap-
Under pressure, Mayor to address email revelation, other E. W. Farr matters pear, says Beamer, DSBN officials associated with the school-naming process have either declined to attend or have not yet responded to the group’s invitation. DSBN Chair, Dale Robinson, to whom Augustyn’s email was addressed last June, has declined to appear, says Beamer, asserting that she would be
“on holidays.” The Voice was unable to independently confirm Robinsion’s intentions. She did not respond to repeated requests for comment on E.W. Farr-related matters before presstime. Beamer, whose group maintains an email list of some 580 residents, says that all members of the public are invited and encouraged to attend the meeting. “We would especially welcome parents and children who are unhappy with the name change,” she says, referring to the contentious decision by the DSBN to consolidate two Pelham See MEETING back page
HEN I WAS young, my father and I would go for long drives along the rural routes of Pelham. We’d blast George Thurgood and roll down the windows because we loved the smell of the breeze, the sensation of crisp Niagara wind beating our cheeks and tangling our hair against our summer-kissed skin. My father was not a sentimental man. He worked in factories and had a Gordon Lightfoot mustache and never shed tears over injuries. Yet something about the Pelham landscape, the hilly backdrop to his childhood and the childhoods of our ancestors, drew him in. He’d stop by a farm or a gathering of woods and, surrendering his manly veneer, tell me a story about the town. This place is precious. This is the earth that granted us life. Here is the place where we happened upon love or here is a site of devastation. On one particular drive sometime in the late ‘90s we stopped at a tree with a plaque. “This tree looks dead,” I said to my father. “It sure is getting there, Julie.” The Comfort Maple is supposedly Canada’s oldest See COLUMN SIX Page 14
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Part 2 of 2: Coronation to embarkation BY HEATHER McLAREN ROHRER
Special to the VOICE
A
Repair measures underway last week to correct a construction error in the chicane. truck or an ambulance?” he said. While waiting for the contractor to return to fix
the mistake, the Town has taken measures to temporarily allow passage for vehicles through the neigh-
VOICE PHOTO
bourhood in the short-term. Manager of Public Works Ryan Cook said that after discovering the issue with
the chicane the morning it first opened, the Town See CHICANE Page 5
Petition-inspired changes coming to 2017 Summerfest BY NATE SMELLE
The VOICE
Representatives from the Pelham Summerfest committee Candy Ashbee and Bill Gibson presented council with a final report on the 2016 Summerfest at the Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 21. Prompted by a story in the Voice in August about a merchant petition to move Summerfest from Pelham Street, in September Town staff met with various stakeholders to hear their complaints, promising at the time that changes in the way Summerfest was mounted would be con-
sidered. The main concerns identified during the community engagement process were security, parking, ensuring customer can access all businesses in town, and liability for damages. How to get all Pelham Street businesses to participate and finding ways to make it beneficial for them to set up a booth were also determined to be of high priority for the committee as they plan for next year’s event. Gibson told Council that the committee is addressing these concerns in a variety of ways. To improve parking, they intend to create bet-
ter signage for out-of-town visitors to designated parking areas and shuttle services. To make participation in Summerfest more enticing to local businesses, they plan to implement a tiered-charge for booths. Under the new system, Pelham Street business owners will be charged the least, other local businesses will pay a slightly higher fee, and vendors from outside Pelham will pay the most. In response to more specific issues for individual businesses, they will also slightly alter the footprint of the event and make adjustments to security. Another way the committee plans
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to improve the 2017 Summerfest is by sponsoring and working with the organizers of the Thursday Night Bandshell Concert series to select the artist performing on the first night of Summefest. They also intend to make more use of the smartphone app they launched in 2016. "We are really going to push it this year," Ashbee said. “It really helps to get people to see what events there are so they can plan out where they are going. We will be able to actually help the merchants and local businesses ad-
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Column Six
Haist Street traffic-calming measure a little too effective A construction error was discovered following the opening of a traffic calming chicane on Haist Street north of Hwy 20 last Monday that prevented large vehicles from passing through. One resident living in the neighbourhood said he contacted the Town after seeing a small schoolbus get stuck as it tried to get through the new traffic calming measure. Later that day while driving behind a cement truck, he said that he became concerned for the public’s safety when the truck had to turn around because it couldn’t get through. “If a small school bus and a cement truck can’t make it through what about a fire
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BY VOICE STAFF The District School Board of Niagara is requesting that the Town of Pelham cede a portion of Cherry Ridge Park for use as a soccer field to serve the students of the new Wellington Heights Public School, formerly the E. W. Farr Memorial Public School, in Fenwick. Currently under renovation and expansion, the new school will combine students and staff from the previous school and Pelham Centre, where classes are being held while construction continues. Two letters, containing virtually identical text but signed by different authorities, were sent last week to nearby residents of the park, as well as to parents of Pelham Centre students. “The DSBN is currently building onto Wellington Heights Public School on Alsop Drive,” states the letter. “The size of the school's addition means the existing small soccer field will be eliminated. The Town and the Board have been discussing the possibility of working together to create a field for both the school and the
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FTER LUNCH ON Saturday, Mum and Dad had my afternoon cut out for me. Mum had more brass than anyone I knew, and it had to be cleaned. In addition there was the set of silver fish-knives and forks which were never used, but which had to be cleaned and put back in their velvetlined box. Next was a walk to the newsagents to pay for the daily delivery of the Daily Mirror. As I said, Dad was a printer, but when he was 37 he had been rejected for a job, as being too old, by the printers of the Beano. For that reason, my favourite comic was not allowed in the house, but while I was paying the papers, the newsagent let me have a 'shoofty' at the Beano. I'd explained my predicament and he understood completely. Sundays were different again. Dad would play golf on summer mornings and billiards in winter. Then he'd stop for a 'refresher' at the local and would pick up the prawns, cockles, winkles or whelks we'd be having for tea later. Meanwhile, Mum was roasting the 'joint' and potatoes. I got to make the Yorkshire pud, and mint See COLUMN SIX Page 14
See CHANGES Page 5
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Vol.20 No.32
NIAGARA’S BEST-READ WEEKLY SINCE 1997
Wednesday October 12, 2016
Apple Day comes to Fonthill BY VOICE STAFF While shopping in Fonthill between Friday and Sunday, keep an eye out for Beavers, Cubs and Scouts in front of local stores with bushels of apples. As part of the annual Apple Day campaign, Scouting youth of all ages will be trading apples for donations. The yearly fundraising drive is an important way for young Scouts to connect with the communities they are serving, says Leah Marie of Scouts Canada. “The Apple Day campaign holds a great tradition of being able to have youth interacting within the communities they live in,” she says. “All of the Apple Day donations stay directly within the group that re-
The goal is to have these youth develop into confident and well-rounded individuals ceives them, enabling youth to have experiences that build character, challenge them, and allow them to try new things. The goal is to have these youth develop into confident and wellrounded individuals, better prepared for success. Apple Day helps to achieve that.”
The VOICE
Joining their principal, Karen Simpson, at the Sept. 19 Council meeting as part of a delegation from EL Crossley Secondary School, students Abby Loewen and Neenah Williams presented Council with a list of reasons that they should immediately approve the construction of the new sidewalk proposed along Hwy. 20. The asphalt side-
walk/trail is slated to be built between the south side of the road from Timmsdale Crescent to the high school. Because of the large volume of motor vehicle traffic travelling at high speeds through this area, and because of the necessity for students to tread this path on a daily basis, many residents would like to see the sidewalk go in sooner than later. After delivering to Council a petition containing
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T Second year Beaver with the 3rd Fonthill Group, Russell Letford offers a fresh apple to shoppers in Pelham during the 2015 Apple Day campaign. SUPPLIED PHOTO A longtime Canadian tradition, Apple Day began in 1932 in Saint John, New Brunswick, when Scouts handed out 21,000 apples as a way to say thank you to the community. In return for their generosity, many people offered them donations. From then on Scouts have reached out through Apple Day to raise funds for their programs.
“Any money raised during Apple Day goes towards improving the Scouting program by providing more outdoor adventures for youth, camping equipment, canoes and paddles, training and many other endeavours that the youth want to experience,” says Marie. Scouts Canada has some 100,000 members across Canada, and carries out programs for boys, girls
and youth ages 5-25. This year the 3rd Fonthill Group, which includes Beavers to Ventures (youth ages 5- 25) will be hitting the streets to drum-up support. Over the weekend, Scouts will be set up in Fonthill outside Sobeys, Tim Hortons, Target Gas station, Fonthill Shopping Plaza and the Pioneer Gas station at the corner of Hwys 20 and 24.
Town Council approves sidewalk to serve E. L. Crossley BY NATE SMELLE
Cell 905.933.3049
Column Six It doesn’t get better than Autumn
Longtime Scouting tradition dates to 1932
Many residents would like to see the sidewalk go in sooner than later the names of 450 students calling for a safer walk to school, Simpson handed the
podium over to Loewen and Williams to plead their case. Loewen told Council that because there are a lot of students who have work placements and coop placements during the school year, this is the only route for many of them to travel. As one of the students facing this predicament, Williams said she has had no other option but to walk along the dangerous highway.
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“I start work at 2:30 PM and school lets out at 2:15 PM so I can’t take any other route,” Williams explained. “I have had friends, family, teachers and other community members reach out to me in the past about how this is unsafe and how there should be another alternative for us.” Looking ahead to winter, when she will need to walk this path three or four times
HERE IS NO BETTER time to cycle than Fall. It matters not whether you’re new to the sport, a seasoned recreational cyclist, racer, touring rider or mountain biker; we all have reason to look forward to autumn. Summer’s heat has faded, and the streams of sweat that ran from soggy helmets into our eyes are now just slight perspiration. Fitness is peaking from lots of saddle time, making those tough climbs of Spring a breeze in Autumn. It’s hard to beat the feeling of beginning a crisp, cool Fall ride with a slight shiver, knowing your efforts will soon warm you perfectly. The hues of Autumn are outstanding. A Pelham route as simple as following our southern boundary is one that would make most Toronto cyclists jealous, especially when our forests and fields are ablaze with colour. Begin from Harold Black Park, and zig-zag south along Effingham Rd toward the Welland River. If you’re new to cycling, it’s important to know south is the direction away from any hills. If you avoid the morning and evening weekday rush hours caused by those travelling through Pelham between Wainfleet
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BUDGET continued from previous page revealed that in 2015 the Town had received four classifications of moderate financial risk, and two of high financial risk, from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. Following the debt discussion, Town Director of Human Resources, Paula Gilbert, presented a more thorough explanation of the new community centre arena’s staffing plan. A week earlier, several Councillors had asked Gilbert to provide them with the reasoning behind her staffing request for the new building. “The feedback was that I hadn’t presented the logic,” said Gilbert. “When you create a staffing model, the first thing that you do is look at the bare minimum needed in that building to turn the lights on at the beginning of the day.” For the community centre arena, Gilbert said that this bare minimum is one employee on the warm side (the centre part), and one employee on the cold side (the arena part). At peak periods, the centre will need four people on the cold side, and one on the warm, while during times of medium business, two will be needed on the cold, and one on the warm. The warm-side employee will be tasked with walking through the building, checking on the 41 toilet stalls, and seeing if anyone is in need of assistance. “Our arena now is a simple building to run. We only have people in the building when there’s something going on,” said Gilbert, contrasting the current arena with the new centre. “It’s going to be our transit hub. We want people to go in and mill about.” As she noted the week previously, Gilbert said that her staff request was less than she originally envisioned for the centre. “I do want you to see the cuts we’ve made to make it for the 2018 calendar year,” she said. “We completely cut out the front desk attendant,” continued Gilbert. “The only person on the warm side of the building is the person walking around.”
The Voice of Pelham, January 24 2018 Councillor Catherine King expressed some concerns about the cutback in planned staffing. “My first concern is that this is new facility and we need to out our best foot forward. What are we giving up by moving from Plan A to Plan B?” she said. King also spoke to potential safety concerns for staff being alone in the building, and asked Gilbert if adjustments could be made after the opening. Gilbert assured Council that the through an initial trial period changes would be considered. Regarding the scale-back of the staffing request, she was frank. “I get the fact that because we are where we are now, we need to make some cuts.” Councillor Richard Rybiak, who previously asked Gilbert for the centre’s 2018 operating cost, thanked her but wasn’t entirely satisfied. “You didn’t answer the question I asked,” he said. “What I’m looking for from a budget perspective is some understanding as to what the cost in 2018 will be. If we didn’t have the centre, what would it be? If we do have it, and we will, what would it be?…What are we going to be paying more, net, specifically as a result of the community centre?” Gilbert said that she had a spreadsheet that would seemingly provide this information ready to provide to Council. “I flipped it over to our CAO [first], because I wanted to make sure that our CAO was comfortable sending it to you,” Gilbert told Rybiak. “We talked about about, ‘Do I send it to you and let you fiddle with it on your own?’ Or, if I presented it to you, I was just very insistent that it become an in camera session, because we’re showing actual people and individual salaries.” Gilbert did assure Rybiak, however, that her staffing request was keeping within the proposed expenditures previously calculated. “What we promised in the pro forma is exactly what we’re delivering now. As long as the revenues are what we had in the pro forma, the salaries are absolutely falling in line.” For the second consecutive meeting, Council hit its 10 PM curfew before finishing budget discussion. It was to reconvene today, January 24, at 4 PM, to continue.
Page 15
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The Voice of Pelham, January 24 2018
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TOWN COUNCIL NEWS BY VOICE STAFF Town Council heard a drainage report from engineering consultants GM BluePlan on Monday night, a report that assessed Pelham’s drainage system and offered suggestions for upkeep. GM BluePlan’s Danielle Anders described her firm’s objectives, including to “provide holistic and strategic analysis of the entire system.” Anders said that GM BluePlan was charged with noting spots of concern, and developing a strategy to address these areas. The report concluded that Pelham’s overall drainage system, which the firm examined in January and March of 2017, was in “good condition,” with “urban and rural areas in fair to good condition.” In many spots, GM Blue-
Plan found excess vegetation near drains, debris in ditches and culverts, damaged culverts, and poor grading and obstructions. In the reporting process, GM BluePlan visited drainage sites throughout Pelham, taking field notes, and photographing and describing defects in the drains. Anders recommended that the Town undertake a “System Improvement Management Plan,” which calls for $1.87 million in funds to be directed towards the town’s drainage system. Anders’ presentation suggested that this funding could be allocated over a decade, working out to $187,000 per year. GM BluePlan recommended allocating $75,000 annually to prioritized ditching in Fonthill and Fenwick, as well as $50,000 annually to culvert rehabilitation.
COLUMN SIX continued from Page 1 been numerous occasions when the discussion of the book fizzled out (especially if the book was a stinker) to make way for conversation about man memory and the trail of emotional destruction it leaves behind, especially when the men in our lives forget to put the toilet seat down and change the toilet paper roll when it is empty. Or, just as annoying, forget to put their beer cans in the recycle bin instead of piling them on the kitchen counter in what they claim to be an artistic pyramid of aluminum.
After the presentation, Councillor Peter Papp asked if the report had found any areas of critical concern, to which Anders replied that it had not. She added that in many cases, “flooding is more of an inconvenience,” and that the recommended initiatives could “try and diminish some of those flooding complaints.” Councillor Richard Rybiak also questioned the report. “There’s an area that wasn’t addressed,” he said. “Some of the flooding issues don’t occur on Town-owned land. A number of complaints are a result of how flooding occurs as a result of management on adjacent lands. People look to the Town and say, ‘Do something.’ Of course, we’re not in a position to do anything.” Town Director of Public Works, Andrea Clemen-
Stemming from the results of these studies, a heads-up for men, or a slap-up-thehead for men, male memory loss can cause horrendous consequences for their domestic well being. Researchers have discovered men often forget their wives’ birthdays or even their own anniversaries. Researchers also discovered that the men who forget to turn off lights when they leave a room or forget to get the propane tank for the BBQ filled when company is coming, claimed they suffered from sudden memory and errand memory blackout syndrome. In many of the groups of men who were
cio, responded to Rybiak’s inquiry, saying that Town staff investigate all flooding complaints, since when such complaints initially come in it is impossible to tell whether the problem is on Town or private land. Clemencio added that all of these drainage concerns—including those which occurred on private land—were given to GM BluePlan for consideration. “If the drainage issue is found to be on one hundred percent private land, or a combination, our typical approach is always to bring that resident in and walk through it. We’re very systematic about making sure that they understand our options.” Following Clemencio’s comments, Papp said that it appeared as though the Town had previously lacked such a comprehensive ap-
proach, describing the past as “more reactive,” whereas GM BluePlan’s investment recommendations would constitute a more proactive approach. Council also discussed several items related to the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority. The first was an NPCA planning document, The Living Landscape, that the Authority has circulated to Regional municipalities for comment. Much of the NPCA’s recent policy shuffling is a result of a renegotiation of its shared responsibilities with the Region. Town Director of Planning, Barb Wiens, said that the NPCA has been working on The Living Landscape for some time, and described it as a “policy report that they will use to guide the permit process, and the review process on planning applica-
surveyed and tested on the multiple types of man memory loss, the predominating man memory failure that surfaced time and time again, was forgetting to show up for an appointment at the marriage councillor's office. Yes, men are forgetful. It is a proven fact. After the research on "man memory" was identified, developed, and reported upon, the studies concluded the following. Although men may forget to take the dog out for a pee, or even forget the names of their own kids, most men will never forget the last time they had sex. It was also vigorously documented in all these scientific stud-
tions.” Wiens noted that changes are being undertaken at the NPCA, and that it is “only going to be responsible for planning and permits subject to its regulation. The Region will be taking back some responsibilities.” Councillor John Durley spoke on the NPCA’s document, suggesting that the document ought to make special mention of the Welland River and the municipalities that surround the waterway. In response to Councillor Gary Accursi, Wiens said that the NPCA was going to review comments received from municipalities, and that “adjustments will be made to it, like any plan.” Council also discussed three resolutions passed by See COUNCIL Page 2
ies, men will always remember the year, the day, the hour and the minute the Toronto Maple Leafs won a Stanley Cup. In addition to this unique ability to remember accurately sports statistics and remember verbatim dialogue from all X-Men movies, men will never forget to stop off at the beer store to pick up a case, when, in the first place, they were sent off to Sobeys to get a cake mix for their wife so she can bake her own birthday cake. Man memory, or the lack of it, is a proven fact. Man memory is lousy. The research stands on its own.
First Panthers team to capture Silver Stick banner BY VOICE STAFF The Pelham Powell Drywall Midget AE Panthers were victorious on Sunday, January 14, at the International Silver Stick AE Finals, and came away with the Championship banner. The Panthers defeated the South Muskoka Bears in the final game in triple overtime by a score
of 4-3. Both teams entered the sixth period of hockey exhausted but showed skill throughout the game, which proved to be exciting for the huge crowd watching at the Seymour Hannah Centre in St. Catharines. The Panthers had won their four previous games in the tournament
to reach the final. Pelham jumped out to a first period 3-0 lead in goals by Josh Major, Nicholas Longo and Matthew Diraddo. However the Bears clawed back to eventually tie the score halfway through the third period at three apiece. The teams then played over 30 minutes of hockey without a goal being posted, including two full overtime periods.
Evan Lacroix tallied the game winning goal at 6:59 of the sixth period on a perfect centering pass from Harrison Doan. Goaltender Josh Powell stood strong in the Pelham nets throughout the game making numerous key saves in overtime to keep the score tied. The large crowd was thrilled with the home team emerging victorious,
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and the team celebrated this unique victory on the ice with a popular trophy presentation and then being issued the Silver Stick Championship banner and Champion pins. This is the first Pelham Panther team to capture a Silver Stick Championship banner at the Pelham Silver Stick Finals in the history of the tournament.
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