‘I hope that we resolve it quickly,’ councillor says as constituent complaints mount.

On Tuesday, following a request from Ward 10 Coun. Jeff Beattie, the city’s road division deployed a street sweeper to Barton Street and Fifty Road — two areas of concern cited by affected residents. Multiple city road crews were also sent to the scene to inspect other nearby streets.

Several Stoney Creek residents say their tires have been punctured by metal shards on local roads in recent days.

The issue was first brought to attention by Serena Sopcic who had to replace both of her front tires, costing her more than $1,000.

Hamilton police say they are investigating and encourage anyone with information to come forward. Those who haven’t filed reports are asked to contact police. Reports can be made online.

Police say they will canvas for video once they have mapped out the areas where the incidents are taking place.

A motion by Councillor Jeff Beattie could lead to a behind-the-scenes peek into how staff approach budget deliberations. An unintended consequence of the accidental disclosure of recommendations to close down icemaking at Stoney Creek arena, and possible closure of Wild Waterworks, is that it has revealed the existence of a list of cost-cutting measures developed as contingency by staff that has not been shared with council. With that in mind, Stoney Creek councillor Jeff Beatttie proposed that the entire list be made available for examination by council.

Coun. Jeff Beattie made a motion Wednesday to have city staff compile a list of cuts that did not make it to the final report. The Stoney Creek councillor said he would like to see all potential budget-cutting scenarios considered by staff, as well as the rationale for their exclusion.

If this was simply an error, Beattie wonders why Horwath didn’t say so when the issue was raised three times in the budget meeting on Friday. Her statement didn’t arrive until nearly five days later.

“It seems to me, if somebody was not in favour or spotted a mistake on Friday, to make a correction on Tuesday, that just seems odd,” he says.

As this was happening, the people got involved. All three councillors say they heard it. Francis says his social media, texts, phone lines and email exploded.

“The community lost its mind,” Beattie says.

The son of an elderly Stoney Creek widow who had been living in a property for 40 years was automatically charged the 1 percent tax (average just under $4,000) because neither the senior or the son who lives out of town were aware of the program. Because she was on automatic tax withdrawal the city drained her bank account without her being aware creating financial hardship for the woman. Ultimately Councillor Jeff Beattie and his staff were able to get the matter reversed.

Why can the private sector move so nimbly and deliver what was promised when it was promised while so often we hear a different story from the public sector?

“It’s mystifying,” says Coun. Jeff Beattie. “I honestly don’t know why as a public entity, we seem to stall on a lot of the projects.”

Coun. Jeff Beattie, a former public board trustee, argued in an interview that school boards are funded for very specific things — stormwater fees not among them. He warned the board would have to find that money somewhere, potentially affecting classroom resources.

As a result, the liaison committee passed a motion by Beattie asking city staff to look at the impact of providing a full exemption to both the public and Catholic school boards. 

“Essentially, not taking money out of the classroom to put down the drain,” he said.

Murray Puddicombe is checking on the early clingstone peach harvest at his family farm in Winona. Harrow Diamond peaches are one of a dozen varieties grown on the farm’s 15-acre orchard.

Coun. Jeff Beattie was answering a question about city spending the other day when he pointed out that he’d been seeing headlines about other cities and regions around Ontario already beginning their 2026 budget process.

This, of course, led to an obvious query. If others can do it, why not Hamilton?

Hamilton Ward 10 councillor Jeff Beattie said the sidewalk issues on Fifty Road in Winona is one of the reasons he ran for office in 2022.

Measure would be “one tool in the tool box” to keep teens away from habit.

In Winona, the new facility is planned for the current home of Winona Community Centre, a 2.9-hectare site on Winona Road.

Dynamics of Niagara Escarpment ‘air drainage’ figures into pitch for townhouses.