Community Stories: City of Niagara Falls on the MAP

The City of Niagara Falls is a community of approximately 77,000 people spread over an area of 52,900 acres. Tourism is a major industry, with upwards of 15 million visitors per year.

The City became aware of a number of municipalities were using MAPs to reduce risks related to alcohol service at their facilities. The City's Chief Administrative Officer directed the staff to review other Municipal Alcohol Risk Management Policies and prepare a policy that would suit the needs of community groups utilizing the City's four outdoor pools, four arenas and 68 parks totalling 900 acres.

The draft policy was circulated to a number of groups for review including the Addiction Research Foundation, Niagara Regional Health Services Department, the Liquor Licence Board of Ontario, the City's insurer, and the Niagara Regional Police Department. Further refinements were made based upon feedback from these agencies.

In May, 1995, City Council considered the draft Municipal Alcohol Policy and directed staff to obtain input from facility users. At a subsequent public meeting held in June, emphasis was placed on the need to minimize legal risk and to reduce alcohol-related problems on city facilities. Among the 30 groups, two major issues arose: the cost of providing alcohol liability insurance and the cost of training volunteers who would be working at events held on municipal property.

The community groups were once again invited and a representative of the City's insurance company was available to answer questions concerning liability insurance.

The second area of concern was that of training. Parks, Recreation and Culture staff obtained the SmartServe Training kit developed by the Hospitality Industry Training Organization and offered to provide free training for volunteers using city facilities. Phased training required 25% of the volunteer workers to complete the program by May 1, 1996; 50% by November 1, 1996; 75% by May 1, 1997; and 100% by November 1, 1997. City Council approved the Alcohol Risk Management Policy on December 4, 1995. To date, the Parks, Recreation & Culture staff have trained over 400 volunteers.

Implementation of the City's Alcohol Risk Management Policy has been a huge success. The key, according to Parks and Recreation manager Bob Bolibruck: free server training for facility users phased in over a period of time.

For more information call Bob Bolibruck, 905-356-7521 ext.4330.