Parking tickets dropped in Niagara-on-the-Lake last year, while the town’s drinking water met provincial standards — two of several updates councillors heard during the month of March.
Staff reports over the past month have shown the town’s water is safe, enforcement is shifting and operations are moving forward. But some questions remain.
Drinking water safe, small issues raised
An annual report confirmed the town’s drinking water systems met provincial standards, with no non-compliance found. Councillors focused on a few small issues flagged in audits, including outdated documents and items that had not yet been closed out.
Coun. Gary Burroughs said that stood out.
“I’m just wondering if we corrected that,” he said, pointing to “outdated documents” and audit items “have not been closed out.”
Staff said the issues would be fixed before the next report.
Coun. Sandra O’Connor said residents should feel confident in the system and reminded council it remains responsible for water safety.
It’s important, she said, that residents are assured “our drinking water is safe” and aware council “is responsible for the oversight” of the town’s water quality.
Bylaw enforcement up, but questions linger
Council also reviewed a report showing a shift in bylaw enforcement last year — with more investigations and penalties overall, but fewer parking tickets than the year before.
The town issued 14,661 parking tickets in 2025, down from 19,280 in 2024.
Administrative monetary penalties rose sharply, from 50 in 2024 to 212 in 2025.
The report says the town continues to rely on “a combination of reactive patrols, education-first strategies and targeted complaint-based enforcement initiatives.”
But some councillors questioned whether enforcement is keeping up with the number of bylaws in place.
“It seems very limited from the number of bylaws that we have — it appears that we’re only enforcing very few of them,” Burroughs said, asking if more enforcement staff may be needed.
Staff said the numbers shown mainly reflect penalties, not the full amount of work being done.
Coun. Adriana Vizzari asked for more detail, but staff said breaking down every bylaw would be complicated.
“Most bylaws themselves actually include up to 15 different penalties that could be enforced,” staff said. “So it could become a little lengthy if we really started to dive in.”
The town’s bylaw policy co-ordinator is “actively working on” all of the “active bylaws” for NOTL. Some bylaws — dating as far back as the 1990s — are still tied up in court.
Staff said it is now compiling a list to figure out which bylaws still matter and which need to be updated.
Town shares what it did in 2025 earlier than usual
Council also received an early version of the town’s 2025 departmental recap and annual report, which outlines the day-to-day services across departments and highlights staff’s work over the year.
Staff said the first portion was presented early to give council “a timelier look back at the year.”
Firefighters responded to 806 calls and logged almost 11,000 training hours, while bylaw officers handled more than 300 investigations and issued tickets and short-term rental penalties.
The town also ran more than 2,000 recreation programs and maintained parks, facilities and public spaces across the community and restructured some of its departments.
The approach was well received by council.
“I just want to congratulate staff for bringing this forward before we get our financial stuff,” Burroughs said.
The full report, including financial details, will come later.
