Published: August 06, 2008 10:54 pm      

CITY OF TONAWANDA: Schimminger says Spaulding wasn't tied in 'red tape'

A local representative in the state Assembly is taking issue with City of Tonawanda officials’ claims that Albany red tape is holding up resuming demolition of Spaulding Fibre.

Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, D-Kenmore, told the Tonawanda News that the city fully executed the contract for the $2.5 million Restore NY grant money May 22 and that it could have begun the process of submitting requests for proposals on demolition work then. The city didn’t realize, however, that the contract was finalized.

There appears to have been a mix up in City Hall, as city grant writer Bernie Rotella on June 20 called Empire State Development — the agency that disperses the grant money — inquiring about the status of the contract, one month after it was set.

“It was not (Albany) red tape tie up,” Schimminger said. “The fact was, the contract was...good to go back on May 22nd.”

City officials acknowledged that this week, but said their miscommunication didn’t wind up delaying demolition efforts in any way. Although the Restore NY funding was announced in January, the city still didn’t receive the contract documents from Empire State Development until May.

As for the mix up, Mayor Ron Pilozzi explained that typically the agency providing the funding — in this case, ESD — signs the documents last for final approval.

In this case, the state signed the contracts before forwarding them to the city. Once city officials signed them, the contracts became finalized. Several members of the Spaulding Fibre Steering Committee didn’t catch the fact that the process was reversed. The inactivity caused city leaders to wonder whether the state was holding things up.

The mayor said it was all the result of a miscommunication, and offered his apologies to Empire State Development for statements he made previously accusing higher levels of government of tying up the money.

City Engineer Jason LaMonaco said the process is progressing as planned. “We’re still on track. Nothing’s been delayed,” he said. In approximately two weeks, the city will complete its draft plans for the demolition work and advertise for bids from contractors.

Those bids will be awarded a few weeks later. Heavy machinery is expected to be at the site for demolition work by mid-October, LaMonaco said. All but one of the above-ground structures are likely to be leveled, as city leaders are discussing whether to salvage an “L” shaped building on the site. “That building’s actually pretty solid, so there may be some reuse for that,” LaMonaco said.

LiRo Engineers have been conducting environmental tests on the site and have sent those samples to be analyzed.

In addition to finalizing bid specifications for demolition work, city leaders are examining re-zoning the site for future use. Currently, it is zoned for heavy industrial use, which allows for just about anything. “Obviously, we want to tighten up the zoning before we can have any redevelopment,” LaMonaco said.

As for the $1.17 million Tonawanda received from U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, the city still hasn’t seen any paperwork on that.

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.