June 6, 2023

Citizen Committee Appointments

The City of Welland has announced the new citizen appointments for various committees:

Accessibility Advisory Committee – Ather Shabbar, Terry Scott, Melissa Graham and Steven Soos
Active Transportation Advisory Committee – Stacey Baker, Phill Gladman, Dawn Elliott and James Takeo
Arts & Culture Advisory Committee – Aldo Parrotta, Shari Sacco, James Takeo, Olivia Hope, Jeff Etling
Committee of Adjustment/Court of Revision – Diane Zakraysek-Bourque, Mamdouh Abdelmaksoud, Jared Preston and Kristen Hayley McNutt
Heritage Committee – Mary Adelle Patterson, Therese DeAgazio, John Thomas Higginbotham, Adam Godo, and Connie McCutcheon
Green Advisory Committee – James Takeo, Sydney Tomaino, Phill Gladman, Therese DeAgazio and Carolyn Fast
LGBTQ2+ Advisory Committee – Alexis Higginbotham

Congratulations to all the new appointees, and thank you for your contribution to the City of Welland.

Strategic Plan Adopted

Council adopted the 2023-2026 Strategic Plan: Charting our Future. The City of Welland’s 2023-2026 Strategic Plan: Charting our Future is a bold, innovative, and trailblazing commitment focusing on economic growth, environmental stewardship, health and well-being, and liveability.

A strategic plan is a city’s aspirational, future-focused, and actionable roadmap. The City of Welland’s Strategic Plan results from collaborative discussions, open dialogue, and consensus building amongst Council, staff, and everyone in our community. Strategic planning is an ongoing process, which means the plan will remain live and dynamic, used daily to guide our work, advance and shape decision-making, and be reviewed and updated annually. The plan also assists city staff in their projects and initiatives by understanding the direction of Council and how best to prioritize. Moreover, this plan will help shape and align all city services in each department to a common vision.

The City’s adopted vision is to inspire and promote an active, resilient, and sustainable community delivering the best quality of life possible for all.

The City’s mission is to trailblaze a path toward a future-ready city founded on good governance, exceptional public service, and trustworthy public safety.

This mission and vision will be carried out with the values of Efficiency, Innovation, Integrity, and Resiliency.

You can read the full strategic plan at www.engagewelland.ca/strategic-plan-2023-2026.

Road Reconstruction

The City of Welland has accepted Rankin Construction's tender of $2.4 million for the 2023 road reconstruction project.

Road reconstruction is undertaken annually to extend asset life and improve the quality of existing roads within the City of Welland. Road sections are selected each year using a risk-based approach, applying criteria such as pavement condition, state of underground utilities and maintenance history. Road reconstruction entails the full-depth excavation of the existing road structure and the replacement of the granular road base and asphalt lifts. In all cases, subdrain is added to improve drainage. An opportunity to coordinate the replacement of concrete sidewalks as part of the works serves to minimize future disruption to residents while maximizing savings through economies of scale.

The five prioritized roads for reconstruction included in the project are Sherwood Forest Trail, Maureen Avenue, Cummington Place, Dieppe Street, and Wavell Court.

Sidewalk condition replacements and missing links

Council accepted the CTC Contracting tender for $251,741.90 for the 2023 Condition Related Replacements and Missing Links project.

Sidewalks are important municipal assets that promote active transportation, pedestrian safety and connectivity. Staff have completed a citywide sidewalk network inspection and prioritized locations requiring rehabilitation to conform to minimum maintenance standards (O.Reg. 239/02).

The 2023 sidewalk program will also include installing missing links, which are prioritized within road allowances where connections are missing to access schools, community facilities and institutions. Using the tools available within the City’s Geographic Information System (GIS), an assessment of the City’s sidewalk network was completed to identify missing link sections. The 2023 missing sidewalk links include Summit Avenue – Summit Circle to Armour Drive and Rosemount Drive – Summit Avenue to Rosemount Circle.