Five Niagara mayors met at Thorold City Hall Thursday to sign an agreement to share goods and services.
Port Colborne Mayor Bill Steele told the Thorold News the event was symbolic of “Five cities celebrating together with the best interest of our ratepayers. Signing this agreement will help all the municipalities obtain goods and services at the best prices.”
The initiative began in February, 2018, between Thorold and Welland, “And it was successful with the two of us,” stated Thorold Mayor Terry Ugulini. ”I’m sure it will be more successful with the five of us.”
At Tuesday’s council meeting, he explained that the Province gave $720,000 for Niagara leaders “to pursue such efficiencies.”
“The big winner in this is obviously the taxpayer,” added Welland Mayor Frank Campion. “We’re bringing efficiency to our system.”
In the spirit of collaboration, “We’re doing this before we have to,” said Wainfleet Mayor Kevin Gibson. “We’re working together. The provincial government is probably going to move in that direction and we’re ahead of the game, to streamline and make efficiencies in the Niagara region.”
“The Town of Pelham is very happy to join this group,” said Pelham Mayor Marv Junkin, “and we’re looking forward to anticipating savings for the town.”
According to City of Thorold CAO Manoj Dilwaria, “It’s better, now that we have a big group. We can share staff and RFPs. We have one contractor that can serve all these municipalities.”
When it comes to the procurement of goods and services, he added, “We’re all part of Niagara, but getting RFPs is helping get better pricing. And we can share staff among our municipalities as well, such as building inspectors.”
