Mayor Charles Gosling says he's once again kicking his heels waiting for a meeting with Government to find out what happens next with the Corporation of Hamilton.

The Mayor says it's vital both sides get together to discuss key issues like the proposed waterfront development and how the ageing sewerage system will be maintained.

He says the Corporation also needs to know how much funds it will have now that the Municipalities Reform Act has removed its legal power to collect revenue from wharfage and ports fees.

In July, Minister responsible for municipality reform Zane DeSilva said the Corporation might yet be able to continue collecting that cash — worth $7.5 million a year — and pledged the two sides would now take part in "mature discussions" over the way forward.

But yesterday Mr. Gosling, who requested a meeting immediately after the bill passed through the Senate in early August, said he's still waiting for a date to be fixed.

"We have written to Government requesting a meeting with the appropriate Minister. We were told we would be informed in due course. But we haven't heard anything since," Mr. Gosling told The Royal Gazette.

The Mayor and Government were at loggerheads most of this summer as the bill had a rocky ride through Progressive Labour Party caucus on its way to Parliament. Mr. Gosling came under fire for City Hall's hard-hitting advertising campaign against the bill, which he claimed would lead to "death by strangulation" for the municipality by removing its wharfage and ports fees.

He argued Mr. DeSilva and Government were stonewalling his attempts to discuss the legislation, which also brought electoral reform by giving all city residents the right to vote and stripping multiple votes from business owners.

"We need to try to establish some sort of a reasonable working relationship because there are a lot of issues both Government and the Corporation need to work out hand in hand," said Mr. Gosling yesterday.

He named the sewerage system as a chief concern.

"We are moving to a greener awareness of our carbon footprint and our other form of footprint. We need to look at the way sewage is treated. Other ways of dealing with sewage might even be as a means of producing energy," he said. "Whichever way we go, it's going to be a multi, multimillion dollar project."

Mr. Gosling said dialogue on the waterfront development was needed "to see how seriously we are moving ahead".

He said the Corporation's financial year begins on January 1, meaning talks over fees must happen as soon as possible.

"We have to have a reasonable idea of what our income is going to be," he said.