Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority

Public Communication, Board Governance, Real Estate Acquisitions, and Procurement Practices

The Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority operates and maintains the Peace Bridge, which crosses the Niagara River between Buffalo and Fort Erie, Ontario. The Authority is seeking approval of its plans to construct a new bridge and traffic processing plaza on the American side. We examined certain aspects of Authority operations relating to this planned expansion. We found that the Authority adequately and effectively received and responded to public communication regarding the planned expansion. However, we identified opportunities for improvement in the Authority’s procurement and real estate acquisition practices. For example, certain contracts were not competitively bid by the Authority and written policies and procedures had not been developed for the Authority’s property acquisition practices. We also examined the performance of the Authority’s Board of Directors, and found that the Board was fulfilling its legal and fiduciary responsibilities.

For a complete copy of Report 2004-S-38 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.
For a copy of the associated follow-up report click here.