Applications now open for NPCA seat

St. Catharines has posted applications for a citizen to sit on the controversial Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority board and it’s already getting some traction.

“Given the amount of phone calls I’m getting from interested people, I suspect we’ll get a few,” said City Clerk Bonnie NisticoDunk on Wednesday, the day after the city advertised the position online.

City council voted Nov. 12 to appoint a resident to represent St. Catharines on the board, rather than have a regional councillor fill the position as has traditionally been done.

Councillors took the step after a contentious term at the NPCA that included a report by the Auditor General of Ontario which found significant operational issues with the agency.

And St. Catharines council isn’t the only one choosing its own representative.

Fort Erie is making the same move and on Monday its incoming council selected Leah Feor, a defeated town council candidate, as its appointee. The recommendation will become a resolution once town council is sworn in during an inaugural meeting on Dec. 3.

Feor was the only applicant for the Fort Erie position but St. Catharines is expecting more bites based on community interest.

St. Catharines city council alone passed eight motions related to the NPCA due to perceived problems in the last two years.

The NCPA board of directors is made up of 12 members appointed by Niagara Region — one for each municipality. During the last term of council, 11 of the 12 members were regional councillors, with Thorold choosing a citizen member.

St. Catharines new city council, which will be sworn in on Dec. 3, will make a recommendation for its representative at its Dec. 10 council meeting.

The recommendation and that of Fort Erie will be forwarded to Niagara regional council, which will ultimately make the decision and appointment of the 12 Niagara members.

Anyone interested in becoming the St. Catharines representative on the board can apply online at www.stcatharines.ca/Boards before midnight on Wednesday Nov. 28. The city is offering assistance to anyone who needs help completing the online form by calling Citizens First at 905-6885600 Monday to Friday 8:30 am. to 5 p.m.

The city said applicants must be 18 and be residents of St. Catharines.

Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk recommended in her Sept. 27 report that members of the NPCA board should collectively have the “skills, experience and training necessary to oversee the NPCA’s activities effectively” and that’s what the city says it’s looking for in an applicant.

Applicants will be asked to briefly describe themselves and what they can bring to the table to help fulfil the NPCA’s mandate, which is to establish and undertake programs designed to further the conservation, restoration, development and management of natural resources.

Members of the NPCA board are paid a per-diem to attend meetings. That’s currently $76.10 per meeting after board members voted in February to give themselves a $1.42 raise.

St. Catharines council’s motions related to the NPCA began in December 2016. Besides appointing a citizen to the board, councillors have asked the province to audit the NPCA, requested the board launch a third-party investigation into the organization and voted to withhold the city’s annual $1.7 million contribution to the NPCA until the agency accepted an offer by the auditor general to audit the authority.

Karena.Walter@ niagaradailies.com

905-225-1628 | @karena_standard