Politicians decided Sept. 25 to have the region's lawyer sit down with the lawyers and economic development staff at the five Niagara municipalities that have their own, local economic development departments to review the NEDCO agreement and report back to regional council in early November.

Niagara Falls Coun. Norm Puttick, who spearheaded the push for the review, has been a vocal critic of the regional economic development agency that is designed to attract new businesses to the peninsula and promote tourism. He believes there is duplication of services between NEDCO and local economic development offices.

Some regional councillors wanted any such review put off, noting regional staff set out to review the roles of NEDCO and local economic development offices last year. An initial report has been completed on that review, calling for such things as regular meetings and the sharing of information between the regional and local agencies, and for NEDCO to be the lead agency in marketing Niagara. But regional chief administrative officer Mike Trojan said the work was still in progress.

Puttick said with all the manufacturing job losses that have hammered Niagara, he doesn't think NEDCO is good value for the roughly $1.9 million it gets from regional taxpayers each year.

"There's no value for money in what they're paying for," he said. "We're in a crisis.

"Hopefully we'll get some manufacturing (back) in this region."

St. Catharines Coun. Judy Casselman questioned the review of NEDCO, noting three Niagara mayors and Regional Chairman Peter Partington are appointed by the region to sit on the NEDCO board of volunteers, which also includes business leaders.

Niagara-on-the-Lake Lord Mayor Gary Burroughs didn't see the harm in reviewing NEDCO's performance.

"I don't take it as an affront, that we're about to close down NEDCO," he said.

Likewise, Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey said the report done by regional staff on NEDCO was lacking in "tangibles." He said action needs to be taken as soon as possible to spur Niagara's economy, because right now that economy is "flatlining."

St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan, one of those mayors who sits on the NEDCO board, said he's confident the economic development agency will stand up well to the scrutiny.