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NPCA speaker draws tough questions

Carmen D’Angelo admits the NPCA got it wrong. The chief administrative officer for the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority said the authority “absolutely did a bad job” when it changed floodline designations along the Welland River.
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Mayoral candidates debate October 8, 2014. The winner will be Pelham’s Mayor for 2014-2018

Carmen D’Angelo admits the NPCA  got it wrong.

The chief administrative officer for the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority said the authority “absolutely did a bad job” when it changed floodline designations along the Welland River.

D’Angelo came to a Pelham town council meeting Monday to outline the NPCA’s new strategic plan.

He ended up fielding questions about NPCA’s procedures and policies from town councillors.

Ward 3 Coun. John Durley said the NPCA had a problem with communication over floodplain lines which led to the creation of group to oppose them.

D’Angelo said the NPCA redrew the lines, implemented them but didn’t tell anyone. Landowners were taken by surprise when they came to get permits for construction.

The outrage that followed led to banding together of West Lincoln, Wainfleet, Pelham and Welland landowners.

D’Angelo said the NPCA has withdrawn the lines, formed a committee of landowners, issued tenders to redo the floodline model and will hold public meetings before any implementation.

“We learned a lot from that,” he said. “We will communicate what we are doing before we do it.”

Durley asked it NPCA staff consult with landowners who know the history of their property going back 50 years. “Or do they just assume a Hurricane Hazel is coming?”

D’Angelo said he is insisting staff get away from their computer screens and start  “getting boots on the ground” to visit sites.

“If there is a disagreement, I go out myself.”

Mayor Dave Augustyn asked about complaints from the Niagara Landowners Association that NPCA staff goes into properties unannounced.

D’Angelo said staff  contact owners to notify them they are coming.

“We don’t just trespass.”

The NPCA, he said is a “reactive agency” responding to a complaint from a neighbour or are working “in concert with the region in enforcing a regional bylaw.”

Ward 2 Coun. Gary Accursi asked about developers complaining that the NPCA “was a moving target” changing its requirements after developers have made investments.

D’Angelo said there is always a challenge between conservation and  development in trying to find a solution with “no net loss of wetlands.”

A recent change in provincial mandates may help things along by allowing for more flexibility in measuring wetlands, he said.

In his presentation before questions, D’Angelo said the NPCA in creating its strategic plan carried out town hall meetings to get “robust citizen engagement,” he said.

“We came out of it with two black eyes,” he said.

It led to changes in organizational structure and in staffing including the hiring more planners and a communication specialist.

The NPCA he said follow policies set by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

“The ministry designates, we regulate under the Ontario Conservation Act.”

The NPCA covers the Niagara Region and parts of Hamilton and Haldimand within the Welland River watershed.

It handles watershed management, oversees 37 conservation areas, carries out recreation, education and conservation programs and provides geographical information services.

It draws $7,822,745 in funds from local municipalities.

D’Angelo said it plans to increase other funding sources to decrease municipal funding.

It will be more than increasing user fees at conservation areas, he said. It will look got alternate forms.