Are The Aero Car And Incline Railway On The Wire For Lease?

I don’t know if it is true or not, since the source is a contractor who is known for his BS.

According to one of the contractors who services the Incline Railway and Aero Car, both will be leased out to their parent company, starting next year…

This came straight from one of their lips (when he was pissed off about something). The other contractor, (same company) won’t even answer the question…. This leaves me to believe it is true.

As I said, one of the individuals who does the servicing are well known for their B.S. The two of them have cost the NPC lots of money over the last few years what makes them money makes their company money. It also costs the NPC money. It also justifies the NPC to declare the 2 attractions a money pit and decide to lease them out.

There has been loads of needless maintenance on the incline and the Aerocar. This Maintenance which is being performed on the NPC’s dime will make the Incline and Aerocar more attractive to a company looking to lease out the two.

Border requirements impact local tourism

Posted By JOHN ROBBINS REVIEW STAFF WRITER

The Canadian tourism industry is experiencing its longest period of decline since the 9-11 terrorist attacks almost eight years ago, according to Statistics Canada report released Monday.

But if the recent experience of the Niagara Parks Commission is a good indication of what’s happening elsewhere in Niagara, Ontario and across Canada today, the Statistics Canada figures showing a 1.3 per cent decrease in tourism spending during the first quarter of 2009 will be seen as comparatively good news.

Parks commission chairman Jim Williams says the NPC has seen its revenues fall sharply since the beginning of June when new border-crossing regulations came into effect.

“We were actually having a fairly good turnaround from Nov. 1 until May 31,” said Williams. “Overall, our numbers were up eight per cent or thereabouts, year over year.

“But since the beginning of June, there has been a dramatic decline … We’ve experienced anywhere from 15 to 20 per cent decline in all of our various revenue generating operations just since June 1.”

Williams attributes the decline in large measure to the introduction of the border-crossing documentation requirements imposed by the United States under the so-called Western Hemisphere Travel Initiatives.

The legislation requires Americans and other citizens entering the United States to show a passport or some other form of secure identification, such as a Nexus Card or enhanced driver’s licence.

“My guess is this is pretty much the norm right across the tourism industry, particularly border sites that rely on a lot of American tourism.”

Highlights of the Statistics Canada report released Monday include:

* The first quarter of 2009 was the first time tourism spending has fallen for three consecutive quarters since 2001. During that downturn, tourism spending fell by a cumulative 5.3 per cent in real terms;

* Spending by international visitors fell 5.7 per cent during the first quarter of 2009 -the 14th decline in 17 quarters and the sharpest decline since the SARS outbreak during the second quarter of 2003;

* Spending by Canadians on tourism in Canada edged down one-tenth of a per cent during the first quarter of 2009, following “modest” declines during the last two quarters of 2008.

Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor said the Statistics Canada figures are disappointing by not surprising, considering the state of the economy worldwide.

Craitor said he’s hopeful government investment in tourism-related infrastructure, such as the new convention centre in Niagara Falls, support for festivals and events and spending on marketing Ontario, will help stem the losses.

MAID OF THE MIST LEASE AWAITS RENT REDUCTION

By Frank Parlato Jr.

June 30 2009

Preserve our Parks (POP), the powerful citizens’ activist group in Niagara Falls, Ont., is taking their case to the city council this week.

Their claim: Maid of the Mist owner, James Glynn, and the Niagara Parks Commission are hurting the famed Niagara Parks.

Because of the low rent Glynn pays and the crazed plan — exposed by the Niagara Falls Reporter — to reduce his rent, secretly negotiated last year, but awaiting Parliament approval, the Niagara Parks are being deprived of money for basic maintenance.

POP is distributing pictures to the council of the sorry shape the once pristine Niagara Parks are in since layoffs have reduced maintenance staff by more than a third.

Five hundred employees were laid off. One thousand full-time seasonal workers had their hours slashed by 6.25 per cent.

Besides layoffs the NPC has deferred maintenance, closed services, cut investment and even canceled minuscule expenditures, like the employee staff picnic.

NPC manages 4,200 acres of parkland, including museums, restaurants, golf courses, rides and other attractions.

Around the parks, lampposts rust, paint peels, debris is left for months, vacant buildings need repair or demolition, light fixtures are broken, roofs need repair, including even the famous Spanish aerocar entrance’s roof, tree wells are overgrown with weeds, parking lot asphalt is worn and missing — all this and more make the parks seem in places rather shabby.

Essential services are also being slashed.

The NPC had to close the snack bars in Queenston Heights and Kings Bridge Park — giving a bizarre and uninviting look to these tourist areas. They closed the store and the botanical house at the Floral Showhouse, choosing to purchase plants instead of growing them. They reduced the hours of operation at the Table Rock Complex. And the ground maintenance crew at the mammoth Legends Golf Course went from 60 to 15 workers.

So why does POP think the decline in the parks is somehow the fault of Maid of the Mist, James Glynn and the NPC, particularly its chairman, Jim Williams?

After all, the Ontario Minister of Tourism reported that USA visitation is off by 50 percent and NPC Chairman Williams warned that parks are facing severe economic times because of the worldwide economy.

Yet Williams — a former federal government official, now in private consulting — knew the NPC was faced with an operating deficit of more than $4 million. He knew he had to increase income or make cuts as the chief steward of these public lands.

He made the cuts, but astonishingly, instead of trying to increase income on the biggest lease the park has, he and Glynn secretly negotiated to reduce the Maid of the Mist rent by more than a $1 million per year.

The secretive Lewiston businessman has held the lucrative dock leases for the Maid of the Mist boats on both sides of the Niagara since 1971. Until the Reporter published the leases, the public never knew what rent they were getting on their own land.

By an archaic quirk of law, the NPC is allowed to operate in secrecy — a patent recipe for corruption.

After the secret negotiations took place with Glynn, Williams led the part-time commissioners at the NPC to again secretly vote to lower lease payments, while ignoring other companies’ willingness to pay more.

It is hard to fathom why, when faced with the layoff of workers whose task it is to maintain the parks, Williams would lead the NPC to reduce Glynn’s payments from a flat 15 percent of sales to a sliding-scale lease that sees most of Glynn’s rent — if the new lease stands — paid at 5.5 percent.

As the Reporter revealed, the billion-dollar Ripley Entertainment Company of Canada proposed to pay $2 million more per year than Glynn was paying before the reduction.

Had Ripley’s been allowed to bid, the NPC would see a rent increase that would singlehandedly cover half the shortfall the entire park system is facing.

But, and this is curious, Williams refused to allow Ripley’s to bid and, even kept Ripley’s interest a secret from other commissioners.

Also, astonishingly, Williams failed to tell the part-time NPC commissioners that the new lease actually reduced Glynn’s rent. Most commissioners never saw the lease or knew about competing offers when they voted.

Alcatraz Media of Atlanta, which represents boat tour companies that deliver boat tours at Alcatraz Island and the Statue of Liberty, also offered $96 million more over the 25-year life of the proposed new Glynn lease.

Alcatraz also was excluded from bidding and is suing the NPC in Ontario Superior Court.

Last month, hard-hit Niagara Parks employees marched en masse to the falls to protest the cutting of their wages.

Last year, Williams managed to cut Glynn’s rent.

One cut helped millionaire Glynn. The other hurt poverty-threshold workers.

But Williams has other concerns. He chastised the Reporter for its relentless coverage, telling anyone who would listen that the NPC is “under siege.”

But what else can you expect when you refuse to consider competing offers that would bring millions more per year, when the grass isn’t being cut regularly, gardens aren’t being tended properly, and lampposts are rusting for lack of resources in one of the most famous parks in the world?

Parliament needs to approve the rent-reduced lease. Glynn recently hired high-priced Toronto lobbyist Bob Lopinski — a former aid to Premier Dalton McGuinty, who heads the Liberal party, which controls Parliament — to help persuade Parliament that Glynn should get his rent reduced.

Glynn’s monopoly generated, according to records, about $23 million last year for Glynn. If the proposed rent-reduced lease is approved, his rent will go down from the already under market $3.2 million to about $2.3 million in 2010.

Ripley’s and Alcatraz have offered to pay upwards of $5 million.

With such evidence before us and the hurtful deprivation of park employees and the parks themselves, you have to wonder why the Glynn reduction is even still in question.

Niagara Falls Reporter

www.niagarafallsreporter.com

Council must mind its own glass house

Posted By COREY LAROCQUE

They’ve got a lot of nerve on city council to criticize the Niagara Parks Commission over the appearance of Queen Victoria Park, when the city pumps raw sewage into the Niagara River.

City councillors like to dole out the free advice, but they’re in a big glass house when it comes to telling any other government agency how to run things better.

At Monday’s meeting, council is giving a soapbox to Preserve Our Parks, a watchdog group that keeps tabs on the parks commission.

Somebody went around Queen Victoria Park in April, snapping pictures of what they call the “neglect and deterioration” of the area around the Horseshoe Falls.

Photos show rusted railings at Table Rock, crumbling concrete steps, broken glass in decorative lampposts, and sidewalks where it looks like a snow plow took a bite out of a curb.

If the well-intentioned, civic-minded members of Preserve Our Parks want to spend their free time documenting every burnt-out light bulb in the park, bless their souls.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It’s hard to believe tourists do the falls -a world-famous site -then run home and tell their friends about the rust on the banister.

The Preserve Our Parks slide show is on Monday’s agenda as a result of a concern Coun. Janice Wing raised two weeks ago. After she saw the photographic evidence, she was “shocked” by the condition of Parks property.

Parks commission general manager John Kernahan said the photos -taken in April -show the kind of damage that typically happens over a winter season. The commission has a budget to fix it and it’s an ongoing maintenance issue.

Seems like a reasonable explanation. The commission wisely turned down council’s invitation to come before them and explain themselves. This matter just doesn’t belong there.

www.niagarafallsreview.ca.Let’s look at the big picture.

Niagara Falls council (like every other city) is behind on its own roads and sewers -the things it’s actually responsible for. Traffic grinds to a halt when a long train goes through town, because council can’t get its act together to build an overpass at Drummond or Portage Road.

On Thursday, city workers did “emergency pumping” of sanitary sewage into a storm sewer catch basin during that heavy thunderstorm to prevent basement flooding in the Cattell Drive area of Chippawa. Raw sewage was discharged into the Niagara River.

This is an ongoing issue in Niagara Falls, where a variety of problems with city sewers force a choice between basement flooding or, in extreme cases discharging sanitary sewage into the river.

You’ve got to wonder, what’s the bigger problem: Rusty lampposts in Queen Victoria Park or a city sewer system that regularly risks basement flooding?

Over the years, city hall has offered explanations like the sewers, pumping stations and treatment plants are designed for 50-year storms. But it seems there’s a 50-year storm twice a year lately.

Preserve Our Parks members wonder if the “deterioration” they perceive is because the parks commission doesn’t have enough maintenance money because its cash flow is tied up in golf courses and the new Fury attraction.

Kernahan insists they’re not related. But the parks commission doesn’t do itself any favours by doing all its business in private. A lot of the public confusion about how the commission runs could be cleared up if it was more transparent -like a municipal government.

But the chairman, commissioners and staff are adamant that’s how the laws of Ontario are written. And provincial governments of all stripes haven’t been in any hurry to overhaul those rules.

Until we see the Queen’s Park press release with the headline “McGuinty government re-writes Niagara Parks Act,” don’t expect anything to change.

As it stands, the parks commission has the authority to manage its own affairs. In private, if you can believe it.

Monday’s Preserve Our Parks presentation is yet another case of city councillors butting their noses into somebody else’s business. Wing says it is city business, because if parks commission property looks bad, it reflects badly on the whole city.

As elected officials, they can take on whatever cause they want. But maybe they could make sure there’s no sewage in the basement of their own glass house before criticizing the flaking paint on the Niagara Parks Commission’s.

Group knocks condition of Parks

By COREY LAROCQUE , REVIEW STAFF WRITER

If Queen Victoria Park looks bad, all of Niagara Falls looks bad, says a citizens group concerned about what its members say is the deterioration of buildings, roads, sidewalks and streetlights on Niagara Parks Commission property.

The Preserve Our Parks group acquired about 60 photographs of what its members call “neglect and deterioration” of the park.

“We think the people have a right to see these photos. I think they’ll be appalled,” said Pat Mangoff, an organizer of the Preserve Our Parks group, a self-appointed watchdog.

They show things like broken curbs, potholes, flaking paint and rust on streetlights, rusted railings on outdoor stairways and broken panes of glass on decorative lampposts. One image shows the rusting body of the decommissioned incline railway that used to be in service by the Maid of the Mist area.

But Niagara Parks Commission general manager John Kernahan said the photos show the kind of disrepair common on public property following the ravages of winter.

“Anybody who has an operational understanding of municipal- type infrastructure wouldn’t be surprised by these pictures, given the time of year they were taken,” said Kernahan.

Mangoff said she believes the pictures were taken over the Easter weekend in April, but doesn’t know who took them – only that they were forwarded to her group.

It formed in 2004 to oppose the commission’s plans to build a cable-car ride in the Niagara gorge between the Maid of the Mist elevator and Table Rock House.

The Preserve Our Parks group’s concerns about “deterioration” are the tip of the iceberg.

When five members met Tuesday to discuss the pictures, the topic turned to other beefs they have with the parks commission, including the renewal of a lease with the Maid of the Mist Steamboat Co., the amount of money spent on the new Niagara’s Fury attraction and the fact the commission meets in secret.

Preserve Our Parks members said they wonder if the deterioration they perceive in Queen Victoria Park is because the parks commission doesn’t have enough money to stay on top of routine maintenance because its money is tied up in new attractions like Niagara’s Fury, the $7-million venue it opened last year.

If the commission operated more openly, the public could see its decisions and have a better understanding of whether they do or don’t have the money to maintain their property, they said.

“The central issue is, how much of this would be happening if they could be open,” said Marya Buckingham, a Preserve Our Parks member.

“If they were open and doing their job, nobody would have to be playing watchdog.”

City council will give the group a forum for their concerns at its June 29 meeting. Council also invited the parks commission to respond to the photos and the group’s concerns about maintenance in Queen Victoria Park.

Parks commission officials don’t plan to attend.

“Oh no. We’re not doing that,” Kernahan said. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for council to deal with the matter. They have no jurisdiction.”

Kernahan said he has offered through city hall to meet privately with the group about maintenance issues.

The parks commission has a budget for maintenance and has plans to paint streetlights and replace broken glass. A photo of a broken concrete curb appears to be the result of a snow plow strike, Kernahan said.

“For the most part, they are works under construction or the normal types of experiences you see every spring,” said Kernahan, an engineer with 25 years’ experience in public works with the Niagara region and the City of London.

“These are operational items we have to keep up with and we do this in the fullness of time.”

Kernahan denied Niagara’s Fury is taking money away from park maintenance, saying the new attraction is the reason the park commission’s attractions revenue is up from last year.

Coun. Janice Wing is the reason parks commission maintenance issues are going to be discussed at the next council meeting, after she raised the Preserve Our Parks concerns last week.

“The Niagara Parks has always kept Queen Victoria Park very nicely. It’s always been immaculate. What I’m seeing is something less than immaculate,” Wing said, adding she was “shocked” by the pictures.

While council has no control over the parks commission, its maintenance is a “valid” issue at city hall, she said. If the public’s impression of Niagara Falls is tarnished, it could affect future tourism, the success of businesses and city property tax revenue.

The millions of people who visit Queen Victoria Park aren’t aware of the distinction between city parks and those run by the Niagara Parks Commission, a provincial government agency, Wing said.

Kernahan dismissed that idea, calling it “silly.”

He said he would be”glad” to put the condition of Niagara Parks property up against the condition of “any one of their (city) parks.”

- – -

Decide for yourself,

Are potholes, flaking paint and rusty streetlights signs the Niagara Parks Commission has let maintenance in Queen Victoria Park slide, as the Preserve Our Parks watchdog group claims? Or are they simply the ravages of winter that have to be fixed up, as parks commission management says. Photos the Preserve Our Parks citizens group will present to city council are reproduced on The Review’s website.

Go to www.niagarafallsreview.ca

Here are a few shots.

________________________________________________________-

This is the result of not having enough staff to maintain the parks properly

Niagara Parks workers protest recent cutbacks in tourist district

By Mike Zettel

Niagara This Week

Business decisions being made by the Niagara Parks Commission are bad for workers, bad for business and bad for visitors coming to the falls.

That was the message delivered Sunday morning by dozens of parks workers with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, who gathered in the city’s tourist district for a protest march.

OPSEU local 217 president Bill Rudd said the main issue has to do with management’s decision to cut back employee hours, in part by reducing the hours of operation of certain attractions, as a cost-saving measure.

He said the decision was made on the very day of the release of the annual “sunshine list,” which details public sector workers salaries above $100,000 and showed management making six per cent more last year.

“The workers are inflamed, and they should be,” Rudd said. “They’re close to the poverty line as it is, and then they do this.”

NPC employees represented by OPSEU are responsible for a wide range of duties. They include parks police, bus drivers and horticultural workers.

They were joined by members of Workers United, the hospitality workers union, as well as several other trade unions.

The protesters gathered near the corner of Dixon Street and Stanley Road, marching by the casino and down to Table Rock for the rally.

Addressing the crowd, Rudd said the cutbacks will have a severe impact on the condition of the park and the level of customer service. He pointed, by way of example, to the beat up snow fence across the street, still standing up in May.

“These visitors that come here and see this shabby fence won’t be coming back,” he said.

The protesters were joined by three Niagara politicians, MPP Kim Craitor, Welland MP Malcolm Allen and MPP Peter Kormos, all of whom expressed sympathy for their cause.

Craitor said he too has questioned some of the decisions by the NPC and has raised concerns about the commission at Queen’s Park. He implored people to continue e-mailing him or otherwise letting him know about their concerns, saying every single message will get to the proper person.

Kormos said the NPC’s recent actions, including the questionable investments made at Table Rock, only reinforce the need for it to be disbanded and replaced by elected and accountable officials.

“Let’s have direct political accountability,” he said.

Niagara Parks Commission protest cut in hours

Niagara Falls Review

More than 100 Niagara Parks Commission employees marched to Table Rock on Sunday to protest what they say are unfair working conditions.

According to the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, about 1,000 seasonal employees have had their hours reduced from 44 or 40 hours to 37.5 hours.

“They’ve cut hours of work so people cannot make a reasonable living,” said Bill Rudd, president of OPSEU Local 217.

Jim Williams, NPC chairman, said visitation is down in the park due to the downturn in the economy so the agency needs to be “very prudent in our expenditures.”

Rather than simply letting staff go, Williams said the park looked for innovative ways to share what work is available among its employees.

“We’re asking staff to reduce their work week by two-and-a-half hours for the sake of their colleague’s jobs. Anything other than that, then we’d be running at a deficit.”

“We’re trying to ensure that through these tough recessionary times we have a stable business that will grow and prosper once we come out of this recession.”

Rudd said the decision to cut hours is the result of a “heavy handed management that is making poor decisions.”

“Cutting the hours of one restaurant worker doesn’t save you any money because you have to replace them with someone else,” he added.

The employees affected include maintenance workers who look after the commission’s 1,720 hectares of parkland to the servers in the parks’ restaurants.

“The condition of the park has deteriorated and the service we give our customers has deteriorated,” Rudd said. “We need those customers, we offend them once and they won’t come back.”

Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor attended the rally and said recent actions by the commission has caused him some concern.

“There’s some been decisions that I’ve questioned,” he said, adding he has taken his concerns to Queen’s Park.

Welland MP Peter Kormos on Sunday called for a public inquiry into the commission’s business practices.

“The Niagara Parks Commission should be disbanded and those commissioners sent home,” he said.

Members of Worker United Local 2347, which represents restaurant servers, also participated in the rally.

Hundreds Rally To Protest Employers Cuts

Unionized employees of The Niagara Parks Commission rallied today to protest the recent cuts in wages and hours.

The Commission has slashed the seasonal employees income by six percent. A very sour pill to swallow when reports of wage increases of between six and 9 percent were given to the Commission’s senior and executive management.

Adding to this is the already shortened work season for the seasonals which could very well be even shorter this year.  Hopefully it will not get to the point that monthlys will replace the term seasonals.

Although this rally was in support of seasonal workers several full time employees also were in attendance to show their support.

MPP Peter Kormos (Welland), Kim Craitor MPP (Niagara Falls), Malcolm Allen, NDP, MP, Welland and Jimmy Dean,   Area Council  President, Workers United,   were present to show their support.

Members of OPSEU and Workers United get ready to march down to Queen Victoria Park.

OPSEU Local 217’s President  Bill Rudd,  expresses his concerns to a reporter from Niagara This Week.

Welland MPP Peter Kormos speaks to members of OPSEU Local 217 prior to the march into Queen Victoria Park.

Members of OPSEU Local 217 and Workers United Local 2347 rally to protest wage cuts at the Niagara Parks Commission.

Members of OPSEU and Workers United gather at Table Rock to protest the shortening of work hours and lower wages.

Bill Rudd, President, OPSEU Local 217, speaks to the crowd.

MPP Peter Kormos (Welland),  speaks in support of the workers concerns.

MPP Kim Craitor (Niagara Falls), Was also in attendance to voice his support.

The rally was watched by three Niagara Parks Commission senior officials.

Malcolm Allen, NDP, MP, Welland

Jimmy Dean,   Area Council  President, Workers United

OPSEU: Niagara Parks Commission Workers March to the Falls to Protest Cut in Hours

PR-USA.NET

Niagara Parks Commission workers will march to the Falls on Sunday to protest the Commission slashing their hours. About 1000 seasonal employees have had their hours reduced from 44 or 40 hours a week to 37.25 hours, resulting in an average pay cut of 6.25 per cent. The workers say the Commission’s cost-cutting move has dire consequences not only for their own financial situations; seasonal employees earn barely more than the poverty threshold, but also for conditions in the parks. “The decision to cut hours is making an already bad situation worse,” said Bill Rudd, president of Local 217 of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. “The grass isn’t being cut, gardens aren’t being tended and service in the restaurants is not at the standard it was before.” When: Sunday, May 17 What time: 10 a.m. – 12 noon Where: Workers will assemble near Dixon and Adelaide, march through the park, arriving at the Falls near Table Rock restaurant at around 12 noon, where federal and provincial politicians and other dignitaries have been invited to address the crowd. The employees affected by the cut in hours range from maintenance workers who look after the Commission’s 1,720 hectares of parkland to the servers in the parks’ five restaurants. At the same time, many managers at the Commission are on Ontario’s “Sunshine List” of public sector employees earning over $100,000 a year. The march is being jointly organized by OPSEU Local 217, representing parks maintenance and kitchen staff, and Workers United Local 2347, representing restaurant servers.

OPSEU: Niagara Parks Commission Workers March to the Falls to Protest Cut in Hours

May 14, 2009 12:24 ET
OPSEU: Niagara Parks Commission Workers March to the Falls to Protest Cut in Hours

NIAGARA FALLS, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – May 14, 2009) – Niagara Parks Commission workers will march to the Falls on Sunday to protest the Commission slashing their hours.

About 1000 seasonal employees have had their hours reduced from 44 or 40 hours a week to 37.25 hours, resulting in an average pay cut of 6.25 per cent.

The workers say the Commission’s cost-cutting move has dire consequences not only for their own financial situations; seasonal employees earn barely more than the poverty threshold, but also for conditions in the parks.

“The decision to cut hours is making an already bad situation worse,” said Bill Rudd, president of Local 217 of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. “The grass isn’t being cut, gardens aren’t being tended and service in the restaurants is not at the standard it was before.”

When: Sunday, May 17

What time: 10 a.m. – 12 noon

Where: Workers will assemble near Dixon and Adelaide, march through
the park, arriving at the Falls near Table Rock restaurant at
around 12 noon, where federal and provincial politicians and
other dignitaries have been invited to address the crowd.

The employees affected by the cut in hours range from maintenance workers who look after the Commission’s 1,720 hectares of parkland to the servers in the parks’ five restaurants. At the same time, many managers at the Commission are on Ontario’s “Sunshine List” of public sector employees earning over $100,000 a year.

The march is being jointly organized by OPSEU Local 217, representing parks maintenance and kitchen staff, and Workers United Local 2347, representing restaurant servers.

For more information, please contact
OPSEU Local 217
Bill Rudd
905-658-5305