Published: May 07, 2008 01:50 am            

NORTH TONAWANDA: Council awards bid, lends Christy support

The North Tonawanda Common Council awarded bids for several street-level improvements and started a few other less concrete projects at Tuesday night’s meeting.

Chief among those is a resolution condemning the March cancellation of the public-access TV show “Legislative Journal” on LCTV.

A document drawn up by the office of Mayor Larry Soos after he was approached by a citizen concerned with the cancellation includes five direct statements approving of the show and expressing a desire to see it reinstated.

Writers included this quotation:

“Whereas: The philosopher John Stuart Mill stated, “If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind,” the passage reads.

North Tonawanda Common Council members voted unanimously to adopt the resolution.

Tom Christy, former host of the program, said he was humbled by the results, and pleased with the decision.

“The council did what the Niagara County Legislature was afraid to do,” he said.

Controversy has hovered over the decision to remove the show from the publicly funded station, with various news agencies and public officials including Soos believing individuals at the county level may have pulled the plug because of personal dissatisfaction with Christy’s opinions and choice of topics.

Soos previously stated that he was aware an airing having to do with what many have called a wasted $90 million PILOT program could have been a catalyst for the show’s demise.

On the administrative front, a city code item that has been culminating for months calls for a shortening of the payment period for city water utilities from the current 30 days down to 25 was adopted, with First Ward Alderman Dennis Pasiak dissenting.

“Here we’re trying to penalize people almost like a ‘gotcha’ situation,” Pasiak said. “I think one of the values of a business is to be customer friendly.”

Alderman-at-large Catherine Schwandt voted in favor of the measure, despite making public her sympathies with regard to the effect it could have on struggling families in an already flagging economy.

She said her decision was “because we need to get the city in a good fiscal position.”

The shorting of the payment period represents one phase of a plan to move water billing closer to usage, and while changes to the cycle in recent months have put a squeeze on consumers in the short term, all bills are for services rendered.

With Mayor Larry Soos in Lockport to discuss Greenway funding for Gratwick Park by the Niagara County Legislature, a slightly re-shuffled Common Council on Tuesday resolved against a 90-day moratorium on applications for incentives as part of the Brownfield Cleanup Program.

Some applications submitted from municipalities within Niagara County to the state Department of Environmental Conservation as part of the Brownfield program currently await consideration.

One investment with an application awaiting approval, a memo from City Hall states, is the Remington Lofts on the Canal. The project is in the hands of architects and incentives offered through the program are “a crucial part of the financing package,” the memo states.

Also on the agenda:

n An ongoing discussion to raise the seasonal pay rate for Department of Public Works employees, specifically because officials are having a hard time filling summer garbage crews, was put aside for further discussion.

n Lafarge North America of Amherst was awarded a bid in the amount of $356,082 for road-building materials. Lafarge was the only company to submit a bid.

n Frey Electric Construction Co., of Tonawanda was awarded a bid in the amount of $90,000 to install boater pedestals to the new Sweeney Street canal docks.

Contact reporter Neale Gulleyat 693-1000, ext. 114.

        

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