Heading Downtown or to Port Dalhousie this December? Residents and visitors can enjoy up to three hours of free weekday parking at City of St. Catharines on-street spaces, surface lots, and the Ontario Street Parking Garage by using the HONK Mobile app.

From Monday, Dec. 1 to Wednesday, Dec. 24, the City of St. Catharines is partnering with St. Catharines Downtown Association to offer free weekday parking at on-street spaces, hourly surface lots, and the Ontario Street Parking Garage – up to the three-hour limit. Visitors to Port Dalhousie, can also redeem up to three hours of free parking at on-street HONK zones.

Free parking can be accessed between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. by using the HONK app and entering the holiday parking promo code HOHOHONK at checkout.

The HONK Mobile app provides a convenient and secure way to manage parking. Users can search for available locations, pay directly from their device, and extend their parking session without needing coins, cards, or printed receipts. Credit card information is not required to access the promotion.

“In the past, three hours of free parking has been limited to afternoon use only. The HONK app has allowed us to expand the annual free holiday parking promotion to any time during the weekday by giving the City more flexibility to provide parking options that weren’t feasible before,” says Danielle Clement, the City’s parking supervisor.

Those using the free parking promotion must still follow the three-hour time limit. For longer stays, the Garden Park / Carlisle Street Parking Garage and Ontario Street Parking Garage offers regular paid parking options.

While the HONK app has been successfully used over the years at City lots and the Ontario Street garage, and its use continues to grow, the City and downtown association also understand new users may require assistance. Those requiring support can visit City Hall, at 50 Church St. and the Downtown Association office, at 80 King St.

St. Catharines Downtown Association executive director Kat Dodge says they want every visitor to feel welcome and cared for when visiting the downtown core this season, adding the association and its members are excited about the expansion of the promotion period.

“Extending this year’s holiday parking promotion is something our businesses have been asking for, and the City has worked closely with us to make it happen. It’s meant to help people stay longer, relax, and enjoy the downtown,” said Dodge.

Parking at City lots, garages, and on-street spaces remains free from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. daily, except during special event parking periods.

Learn more about parking in St. Catharines at www.stcatharines.ca/parking

Officials are warning St. Catharines, Ont., residents to exercise caution and patience amid an uptick in wild turkey sightings near high-traffic areas.

Recent sightings of the birds in the area of Martindale Road and Highway 406 have led to “numerous” calls for assistance over the last two weeks, according to the Humane Society of Greater Niagara.

“Even when response times are under five minutes, the birds are often ‘gone about their business’ by the time officers arrive, (a) reminder that wild turkeys are fast, agile, and, yes, they can fly,” executive director of the Humane Society of Greater Niagara Cindy Dunne said in a news release.

The humane society said in the release that while some residents see the birds as a safety risk due to how close they come to traffic, others “welcome their presence as part of the city’s natural wildlife population.”

The humane society said that so far it has focused on safely redirecting the turkeys away from traffic.

“Even if relocation were permitted, turkeys often return to their original territory,” Travis Chorney, an animal services officer in Niagara, said in the release.

“Our role is to help guide them away from danger when possible and remind the community that we share our spaces with many species. Coexistence means allowing wildlife to go about their business while keeping a safe distance.”

Wild turkeys travel in flocks, and forage for seeds and insects, particularly around grassy roadsides, the humane society said. They warn that it is “not uncommon” for turkeys to wander through residential areas looking for food or places to roost.

The birds can be found in southeastern Ontario, the southwestern-most corner of the province, and around Windsor.

The City of St. Catharines and the humane society reminded citizens that “trapping, relocation, or harm of wildlife is strictly regulated under provincial law,” and warned citizens against feeding, approaching, or chasing the birds.

Wondering what some turkeys are up to after Thanksgiving?

Drivers in the Niagara Region say they've spotted them on the road near St. Catharines, Ont. and Highway 406.

Since late October, Humane Society of Greater Niagara (HSGN) said they’ve received many calls from drivers of wild turkey sightings.

While some enjoy watching them through their car window, others are concerned about their presence, said Cindy Dunne, executive director at the HSGN.

The light-footed birds can pose a "public safety threat" as they trot around high-traffic areas and highway-bound roads, Dunne told CBC News. The concerns increased recently after one collision within the past two weeks was found to have been related to the turkeys on the road, Dunne said. One person was injured in that crash, she said.

The wild turkeys “are fast, agile, and yes, they can fly,” Dunne wrote in a joint news release with the City of St. Catharines, urging drivers to stay vigilant and patient when crossing through St. Catharines’ Martindale area and Highway 406.

Last week, officers with the HSGN could be seen in a video chasing after some turkeys with nets. The nets are to help chase and divert the turkeys off the road, Dunne said, not to trap them.

"For us, it's, 'lets get them out of harm's way, get them out of putting others in harm's way and drive them back into the more forested area'," she said.

WATCH | Passengers taking the QEW exit witness wild turkeys making a run for it:

This particular group of turkeys, which may have been four but now appears to be two, has been spotted for about a year in the area, Dunne said.

Drivers and residents are asked to “coexist respectfully with wildlife” and should not “attempt to feed, chase or approach wild turkeys” as Ontario has heavy regulations when it comes to relocating, trapping or harming the bird.

“Public safety is always a priority, but it’s important that we handle these situations with respect for nature,” said Marty Mako, the city councillor whose ward covers Martindale Road.

Travis Chorney, senior animal services officer, said in the news release “turkeys are highly mobile and very difficult to capture safely" and that they "often return to their original territory."

The HSGN says they conduct "periodic patrols" in the area and reported no sighting of wild turkeys over the weekend.

Cold weather often means less sightings.

With St. Catharines seeing its first snowfall of the season over the weekends, “the turkeys will likely recede to the forested area for roosting and sightings should be less frequent though not impossible,” said Dunne.

If spotted in the area, the HSGN and the city encourage to call their Animal Services Dispatch line at 905-682-0767.

At the former GM site in the middle of St. Catharines, where contaminants have been discovered at more than 1,000 times the safe limits established by the province, the question that hangs heavy in the fall air isn’t just who will clean up the cancer-causing toxins — residents want to know if anyone is even monitoring the potential danger.

The City of St. Catharines admits it has absolutely no clue.

Following the revelation that Peter’s Environmental has not been paid and has placed a lien against the property, there remains no assurance that the monitoring system that was in place is still working. Peters has not responded to requests for comment from The Pointer.

Hired in July 2020, the contractor was tasked with building and maintaining a toxic runoff-control system at the former GM site under the supervision of an environmental engineer. The company’s work included maintaining the filtration network designed to prevent toxic materials from leaching into nearby soil and waterways, including Twelve Mile Creek, which runs directly adjacent to the Ontario Street site. But with the contractor apparently having taken a step back after not being paid — and continued silence from Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment Conservation and Parks, which oversaw the installation — concerns over who is actually monitoring the system have mounted.

Officials with the City of St. Catharines previously acknowledged they were not aware of the lien filed by Peter’s Environmental (when The Pointer first reported it after obtaining property records and court documents) or of any issues with the system.

On Friday, October 17, City officials indicated to The Pointer that they do not know if the system designed to keep the public safe is still operating, claiming it is not the municipality’s responsibility.

“Given the lien is a private matter and the filtration system remains under the jurisdiction of the MECP, the City has not heard from these parties regarding these issues and has not had any discussions regarding this time (sic),” the statement details. “We remain committed to addressing what is within the scope of our authority as the City.”

This follows a familiar pattern for the City’s leaders, who have taken a hands-off approach to the former GM property, refusing to act on municipal bylaws and provincial legislation that could force a comprehensive monitoring and clean-up of the site, which for more than a decade has posed a public health risk. Along with the potential hazards from toxins lingering in the soil, the properties pose numerous dangers from the partially demolished structures and open pits.

(Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer files)

Despite repeated requests for comment, the provincial environment ministry has not responded to The Pointer’s inquiries about whether anyone is inspecting or maintaining the system. This could have serious consequences for nearby residents and the environment.

The runoff-control infrastructure was required after the Ministry discovered a significant and continuous leak of PCBs from the site in 2020. PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are a group of synthetic, toxic chemicals that were widely used in industrial applications until they were banned in the late 1970s. Exposures to the toxins are associated with a large number of negative health outcomes including cancer, liver damage and various birth defects. The system was designed to intercept contaminated stormwater and leachate from the former GM property, direct it to a collection pond and pump it through a series of filters before discharging clean water into the storm sewers.

Peter’s Environmental was contracted to do the required work on the site in July 2021. According to documents filed in St. Catharines court, the company was hired to provide services, labour and/or materials relating to cleanup and demolishing onsite mechanical pits, perform remediation activities such as debris and sediment removal, general maintenance of the “treatment system” at the direction of an environmental engineer and other duties including continual maintenance and security on site. But with payments withheld, the company filed a lien earlier this year, citing over $1.7 million in unpaid work. Now, with the contractor apparently out of the picture, residents can only wonder who — if anyone — is ensuring the system continues to function as intended.

Both municipal and provincial authorities have responsibility for the former GM site, but residents and environmental advocates are left with little assurance that the filtration system is being monitored. The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks has remained silent despite repeated inquiries, leaving unanswered questions about inspections, maintenance, and potential environmental risks. In May of 2024 Ministry spokesperson stated: "The ministry continues to monitor the site to ensure regulated activities comply with environmental legislation”. However the Ministry has not responded to questions about these latest revelations, questions which sought to understand whether or not any monitoring actually took place and whether or not they were aware of the issues with Peter’s Environmental.

For residents this leaves the operation of the toxic runoff control system, and the safety of nearby soil and waterways, uncertain.

This isn’t the first time the municipal and provincial government have failed to be transparent around issues with the GM lands. through the Freedom of Information process to uncover the disturbing level of contamination detailed in environmental reports, and that these health and environmental concerns were minimized in public presentations, while key data was withheld from residents. Even today, basic oversight information, such as inspection schedules or water-quality reports, remains inaccessible.

At a time when vital public information is needed by everyone, The Pointer has taken down our paywall on all stories to ensure every resident of Brampton, Mississauga and Niagara has access to the facts. For those who are able, we encourage you to consider a subscription. This will help us report on important public interest issues the community needs to know about now more than ever. You can register for a 30-day free trial HERE. Thereafter, The Pointer will charge $10 a month and you can cancel any time right on the website. Thank you

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