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Lewiston considers new zoning map

November 26, 2012, 10:46 pm
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LEWISTON – An up-to-date zoning map that largely reflects the diverse character of Lewiston was presented Monday to the Town Board for preliminary approval.

The proposed zoning would continue to provide large areas for rural residential development, particularly in eastern and northern sections of the town. Residential zoning would remain intact for areas neighboring the Village of Lewiston at the western end of the town, with small areas designated for planned unit residential developments.

An area occupied by waste-disposal companies in the north central section of the town would remain zoned for industrial or light industrial use. The Sanborn area in the southeast corner of the town would remain mostly residential, with small general business areas to accommodate businesses already there.

Andrew C. Reilly, an engineer with the Wendel engineering and planning firm of Amherst, said the new map fairly well represents existing land use and yet leaves space for compatible expansion. Town Supervisor Steven L. Reiter said the new map is one of the final steps in adopting a modernized zoning ordinance for the town.

No significant questions about the map were raised during a brief public hearing Monday, but the Town Board allowed the public hearing to remain open for two more weeks.

In other business, the board:

• Agreed to sell a parcel of landlocked surplus town-owned property in the Powell Lane-Raymond Drive area to an adjoining landowner for $2,000 an acre.

• Approved the purchase of a new vehicle for the Building Department for $23,261.

• Convened an executive session to discuss contract negotiations with town employees. The town budget for next year provides for pay raises of up to 3 percent of salary for most town employees.

• Announced that donations for victims of Superstorm Sandy in the New York City area must be dropped off at Town Hall by Wednesday.



email: rbaldwin@buffnews.com
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Town of Niagara adds solar-powered streetlights

November 27, 2012, 4:08 am
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TOWN OF NIAGARA – The roadways in Veterans Memorial Park, 7000 Lockport Road, are brighter this holiday season, after the installation this month of 25 solar-powered LED streetlights by the New York Power Authority and the Town of Niagara.

The new lights are powered by energy generated by the sun during the day and then transmitted as much-needed light during the night at the previously unlighted park.

Town Supervisor Steven C. Richards said the lighting was paid for with money from the Power Authority’s Renewable Energy Plan, established in 2008 to help create a pathway to commercialization of renewable energy technology as it emerges.

LED streetlights use light-emitting diodes, which have helped to revolutionize many lighting applications and made it possible to build dramatically thinner television sets. LEDs now provide light for remote controls, light-up clocks and watches, tell when appliances are turned on, and are ideal for miniature lighting of holiday displays.

They often come in tiny packages, but they produce a large amount of light.

Their useful lifetime is thousands of hours longer than that of standard incandescent bulbs.

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Two arrested, drugs and guns seized in raid

November 27, 2012, 7:59 am
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NIAGARA FALLS – Niagara Falls drug investigators and the city’s Emergency Response Team raided a home at 621 24th Street at 11 p.m. Monday and found narcotics and cocaine, as well as two 12-gauge shotguns and a 22-caliber rifle. Two of the guns were loaded.

Two residents of the house, Daniel L. Pelfrey, 37, and Anthony J. Pettitt, 29, were both charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and with possession with intent to sell.

Police found 5 grams of crack cocaine and additional powdered cocaine, as well various narcotics, including the painkiller Opana and the powdered form of Ecstasy, according to detectives.

Narcotics Detective Lt. Bryan DalPorto said the 24th Street home was a hot spot that they had been investigating for the past six months after getting complaints from neighbors.

“It is unusual,” DalPorto said of Monday’s seizure of the powdered Ecstasy. “We used to see a lot of it three or four years ago, but it hasn’t been around recently. Hopefully, this is not a trend.”

The investigation was led by Narcotics Detective Steven Reed.
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Girl, 2, shot in face in car outside Falls grocery

November 27, 2012, 11:52 am
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A routine trip to the grocery store turned ugly in Niagara Falls on Tuesday afternoon, when a 2-year-old girl sitting in the front seat of a car with her father was struck by gunfire.

The girl – rushed to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center by her parents with what a family friend said was a gunshot wound to the face – was transferred to Women & Children’s Hospital, where she was in stable condition late Tuesday.

It remained unclear who the intended victim was in the shooting, and city police had no comment. But Leo Smith, a family friend, told The Buffalo News that the shooter must have targeted someone else.

“No one [intentionally] shoots a baby in the face,” he said.

The shooting occurred at about 1:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Hometown Grocery, at 17th Street and Pierce Avenue. The girl’s mother, who friends identified as Sharonda Platt, had just gone into the store. The 2-year-old was in the front seat of the family vehicle with her father. Their names were unavailable.

“[Platt] had just come in when she heard several shots,” Hometown Grocery store manager Abdo Salleh told The News. “She ran out the door and was screaming, ‘My baby. My baby was shot.’ ”

Platt is a regular customer, Salleh said. He also said he turned security camera footage, which captured images of part of the shooting, over to city police.

City officers, along with several other police agencies and U.S. Border Patrol agents, were searching for a vehicle believed to have been involved in the shooting. It was described as a four-door silver Pontiac or Taurus, with tinted windows and a spoiler.

When Platt’s friend Aljandrina Cummings heard about the shooting, she went to Falls Memorial to be with Platt.

“This was really sad, just so sad,” she said. “... She said she’d seen her daughter shot, in the face – it was in the cheek.”

Cummings said she sat with her friend at Falls Memorial while the medical staff stabilized the little girl for transfer to the Buffalo hospital. She said Platt was devastated by the shooting of her 2-year-old, the youngest of three siblings.

“She’s scared, and she was just so out of it,” Cummings said. “I just told her the only thing that could help her though this was to pray. I stayed with her and prayed.”

Shaken neighborhood residents who gathered at the Hometown Grocery after the shooting were angered by escalating gun violence in the city.

“It’s getting worse,” said Maria Shaver, whose son, Gerald Cannon, 17, was shot and killed in the Falls seven years ago. Shaver said no one was charged in her son’s slaying.

“The people who already have gun charges are the ones doing this,” she said. “They are already back on the street. It is sad. I can just feel [what this little girl’s mother] is going through.”

Anyone with information is asked to call city police at 286-4547.



email: nfischer@buffnews.com
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Falls bomb maker placed on probation, headed for treatment

November 27, 2012, 2:19 pm
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LOCKPORT – Mentally ill bomb maker Thomas P. Jamieson, whose hobby of making Molotov cocktails caused his Niagara Falls neighborhood to be evacuated as police arrested him April 17, will undergo further mental health treatment during a period of interim probation, his attorney said Tuesday in Niagara County Court.

Assistant Public Defender Michael E. Benedict said Jamieson, 25, had been in the mental health unit of Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center for several weeks until his condition could be stabilized. Benedict said Jamieson is to be placed in the Buffalo Psychiatric Center for further treatment.

County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III placed Jamieson on six months of interim probation pending a final sentence for his guilty plea to a reduced charge of attempted third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Police seized more than a dozen bottles of flammable liquid wrapped in cloth with wicks on top when they entered Jamieson’s Falls Street home. Jamieson told officers making bombs was his hobby and he bought jet fuel and gunpowder as ingredients.
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Lockport man pleads not guilty to 23 sex counts

November 27, 2012, 2:23 pm
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LOCKPORT – A Lockport man, accused of having sex with a 14-year-old girl and hiding her in a closet as police looked for her, was arraigned on a 23-count indictment Tuesday in Niagara County Court.

Jarad R. Matsulavage, 19, of Robinson Road, pleaded not guilty to assorted counts of second-degree kidnapping, second-degree rape, second-degree criminal sexual act and disseminating indecent material to a minor.

Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth R. Donatello said the girl was found in the closet at about 4:30 a.m. Oct. 11, as police searched the apartment for about an hour in response to a tip that the girl, who had been reported as a missing person, might be there. Donatello said the girl was not forced to hide and the kidnapping charge, like the rape charge, stems only from her age.

The indecent material charge covers alleged text messages from Matsulavage to the girl, Donatello said. Matsulavage is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
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Two Lockport men plead guilty to drug felonies

November 27, 2012, 2:26 pm
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LOCKPORT – Two City of Lockport men pleaded guilty to drug felonies in separate cases Tuesday before Niagara County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III. Both face a maximum of 2½ years in prison when they are sentenced Jan. 15.

Jeffery R. Thomas, 48, of Webb Street, admitted to second-degree criminal possession of marijuana. Assistant District Attorney Peter M. Wydysh said the county Drug Task Force raided Thomas’ former home on Youngstown-Lockport Road in Porter Aug. 15 and found he had been growing marijuana outdoors. They seized 12.57 pounds of the drug.

Kurtis R. Washington, 22, of Cottage Street, pleaded guilty to fifth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. He sold crack cocaine to a police informant Dec. 5 on Elmwood Avenue in Lockport.

Washington already is serving a state prison sentence for another drug conviction, but he is due for release Jan. 24, Murphy said.
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Buffalo man imprisoned in North Tonawanda crack case

November 27, 2012, 2:29 pm
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LOCKPORT – A Buffalo man who was caught with crack cocaine in North Tonawanda March 3 was sentenced Monday to a year in state prison.

However, Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas recommended that Kenneth Z. Jackson be assigned to the boot camp-like “shock incarceration” program, which could lead to parole in six months.

Jackson, 29, of Donaldson Road, had pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. He threw away a bag of crack as North Tonawanda police chased him from Schenck Street to Bryant Street, Assistant District Attorney Peter M. Wydysh said.
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Early ticket purchases urged for Wine Trail holiday event

November 27, 2012, 9:15 pm
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Wine lovers are advised to get tickets in advance for the Niagara Wine Trail’s annual Holiday Happening at 16 participating wineries this weekend and the weekend of Dec. 7-9.

Presale tickets are available until Thursday at www.NiagaraWineTrail.org for $30 single or $50 per couple.

Tickets are good for both weekends and include three tastes at each winery, a collectible wine glass and a wooden ornament. If any tickets are left when the presale ends, they will be sold at the door for $35 single and $60 per couple.
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Fishing piers will be closing for the season Thursday

November 27, 2012, 9:19 pm
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LEWISTON – The fishing piers at the base of the New York Power Authority’s Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant on the Niagara River shore and the pier near the Upper Mountain Fire Company at the Lewiston Reservoir will close for the winter season Thursday.

Power Authority officials said both piers will reopen when ice conditions clear next spring.

The fish cleaning station at the Niagara Power Plant will not reopen, however, until the possibility of freezing temperatures has passed.
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Niagara elections dispute may be ‘laid to rest’

November 27, 2012, 9:35 pm
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LOCKPORT – The Republican legislator who moved to block the renomination of Niagara County’s Democratic elections commissioner last week said after a closed-door meeting Tuesday that the issues may have been resolved.

But Legislator Paul B. Wojtaszek, R-North Tonawanda, wouldn’t say for sure that Commissioner Nancy L. Smith would be confirmed at the next Legislature meeting Tuesday.

“If [the Democrats] reintroduce it, we’ll have to make a decision,” Wojtaszek said after a 50-minute closed-door session between lawmakers and Smith.

Majority Leader Richard E. Updegrove, R-Lockport, said he didn’t know what would happen because he hadn’t yet consulted with any of his colleagues.

“We’ll consult with our County Attorney’s Office. This may be something that’s laid to rest,” Wojtaszek said after the meeting.

In a party-line vote, the GOP majority of the Legislature tabled Smith’s reappointment Nov. 20, as Wojtaszek said he wanted answers on two key issues at Tuesday’s meeting of the Administration Committee. State law allows them to block the appointment for no more than 30 days; after that, the Democrats alone may confirm Smith.

Tuesday, Wojtaszek said he was satisfied with the explanations about why the county’s online election returns were so slow on election night. A new computerized reporting system crashed under the strain of having many polling sites reporting simultaneously.

“It’s fixed right now,” County Information Technology Director Larry L. Helwig told the legislators.

Tuesday’s closed session dealt with the Oct. 2 firing of former North Tonawanda Mayor Lawrence V. Soos from a part-time job as a Democratic clerk for the Board of Elections.

The firing came the day after Soos spoke out against Nicholas J. Forster’s successful candidacy for y Democratic chairman at the party reorganizational meeting.

Soos filed a notice of claim against the county, a mandatory preliminary to a lawsuit, after he was denied unemployment benefits. The state Labor Department said that it did so because of Soos’ conduct at the Democratic Party meeting.

“Although you were entitled to express your own opinions, you were there as a county employee. Your actions were detrimental to your employer’s interest and constituted misconduct,” the Labor Department wrote.

Republicans said they wondered if that meant unethical conduct had occurred in pressuring Soos to attend the meeting.

But Wojtaszek said Tuesday that the problem “could have been the ultimate interpretation of what happened by the Department of Labor.” He said a misinterpretation was possible.

Information about firings is supposed to flow from the department head to County Human Resources Director Peter P. Lopes. Both Smith and Lopes declined to comment after Tuesday’s meeting, citing Soos’ threat to sue.

Last week, Smith said in an interview, “I know better than to ask somebody to attend a meeting. … I wouldn’t have told Larry to go to that meeting because we weren’t supporting the same person for chairman.”

Meanwhile, Soos said he had a hearing Monday on his claim for jobless benefits.

Soos said Lopes was expected to attend but didn’t show up. He said the hearing officer told him to expect a decision in about a week.



email: tprohaska@buffnews.com
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In Focus: NFTA Executive Director Kimberley A. Minkel

November 27, 2012, 11:18 pm
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When Kimberley A. Minkel was appointed executive director of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority nearly two years ago, the agency was facing numerous challenges. Minkel sat down with The Buffalo News’ Brian Meyer to talk about a number of transit issues. Here is a summary of some points in an interview that is part of the weekly “In Focus” series. Watch the full six-minute interview at www.buffalonews.com/video.

Meyer: It was just under a year ago when then-acting [NFTA Board] Chairman [Henry M.] Sloma talked about how the public transit system had “grown and grown.” He said it’s really important to align the public transit system with the financial structure. Where are you on that mission?

Minkel: We made a number of changes earlier this year. We went out with a fare increase, and we did cut some service. We cut some of the routes that were less productive. In total, the cuts to our system were much less than they would have been had we not done a fare increase. We see our mission as providing transportation to the community. There was a Brookings study that had been released late this summer that actually ranks the system 11th in the nation for connecting people to jobs. We provide 87 percent coverage to the workplace. In other words, we’re getting people to work, and that’s something we’re very proud of.

Meyer: Given the financial realities, including state funding – we all know the problems in Albany, and we all know the NFTA relies on state funding in many respects – is it realistic to think that this coverage is going to be as expansive in the future?

Minkel: A lot depends on the state of the economy. You’re right. Only 25 percent of the fares that we collect pay for the service. We rely on outside assistance – federal, state, local assistance. So the service we provide is really going to be contingent upon that assistance we receive into the future. We’ll continue to monitor and try to right-size and adjust service to where people are living. With the advent of urban sprawl, it makes it a constant challenge for the NFTA.

Meyer: The NFTA is still a major landlord on the waterfront – nearly 400 acres in the outer harbor. There are two proposals to transfer that land. A delay occurred. Congressman [Brian] Higgins was critical of that delay. When will a decision be made on transferring that land?

Minkel: We’re asking for proposals at the end of December. We have a process that we have to follow under the public authorities law ... We’ll review those [proposals] and make a decision. Sometime in January or February, we’ll bring it to the board.

Meyer: The city and the Erie Canal Harbor [Development Corp.] are interested ... You’re looking for more details from those entities.

Minkel: Correct. It’s always been our decision to maintain public access. We’re interested in the public process going forward – how the two agencies would engage the public for the future use of that site.



email: bmeyer@buffnews.com
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Power Authority fishing piers close Thursday

November 28, 2012, 4:04 am
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LEWISTON – The fishing piers at the base of the New York Power Authority’s Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant on the Niagara River shore and the pier near the Upper Mountain Fire Company at the Lewiston Reservoir will close for the winter season Thursday.

Power Authority officials said both piers will reopen when ice conditions clear next spring.

The fish cleaning station at the Niagara Power Plant will not reopen, however, until the possibility of freezing temperatures has passed.

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Early ticket purchase urged for Wine Trail event

November 28, 2012, 4:06 am
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Wine lovers are advised to get tickets in advance for the Niagara Wine Trail’s annual Holiday Happening at 16 participating wineries this weekend and the weekend of Dec. 7-9.

Presale tickets are available until Thursday at www.NiagaraWineTrail.org for $30 single or $50 per couple.

Tickets are good for both weekends and include three tastes at each winery, a collectible wine glass and a wooden ornament. If any tickets are left when the presale ends, they will be sold at the door for $35 single and $60 per couple.

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Falls girl recovering from surgery following shooting

November 28, 2012, 9:48 am
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NIAGARA FALLS – A 2-year-old girl caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting is recovering today in Women and Children’s Hospital as police continue to look for a shooter.

“I talked to [the child’s] grandmother and the child recovered from surgery last night and she is recuperating well,” Rev. Duane Thomas of Praise Temple in Niagara Falls said today.

The girl, identified as Jraeona Moore, is the daughter of Sharonda Platt.

Thomas, who is the family’s pastor, said Jraeona is expected to make a full recovery, but may have scars and may need further facial reconstruction surgery.

Thomas said Platt had stopped in the Hometown Grocery at 17th Street and Pierce Avenue on Tuesday afternoon to pick some things up when the shooting occurred in the store’s parking lot.

“She had a [male] friend in the car with her and I guess some guys pulled up on the car and started shooting at the car," Thomas said. He said the man was just a friend, not the child’s father.

“They opened fire while [Platt] was in the store and he was telling them, ‘Stop. Stop. There’s a baby in the car,’ and they just kept shooting,” Thomas said.

The man, who appears to have been the likely target of the shooters, has not been identified by police or the family, but was interviewed by police late Tuesday night.

“We believe that someone had complications with the male, but we really don’t know why,” Thomas said of the shooting. “They weren’t shooting at [Platt].”

Capt. William M. Thomson, chief of detectives, said the man in the car fled after dropping Platt and the girl at the hospital, but was later found for questioning.

“He wasn’t much help,” Thomson said.

Thomson said the man was in the driver’s seat and the baby was in the back seat.

He said Platt heard the shots and ran back to the car to find her baby had been shot in the face. Police found multiple bullet holes in the car, but the caliber of the gun used is not known, Thomson said.

Thomas said there was a lot of chaos Tuesday night at the hospital.

“[Sharonda] is really very upset. There is some speculation on who the shooter is, but basically the family just wants whoever it is to come forward. You were shooting at someone and you shot a baby in the face and now you really [have] got to pay for that," Thomas said.

Thomas said his church plans to organize fundraisers to help the family.

He said his church also is trying to address gun violence.

“We are actually putting a program together to try to combat things like this, a prevention program. Niagara Falls – we can change. All [the current programs] are just numbers for grant money, but we actually need to go out there and hit the streets with things like a gun buyback program," Thomas said.

Police continue to search for the shooter and for a four-door silver American-made car, likely a Pontiac or Taurus, with tinted windows and a rear spoiler.

Anyone with information should contact Niagara Falls police at 286-4711.

email: nfischer@buffnews.com
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Six guns reported stolen from Cambria home

November 28, 2012, 12:14 pm
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CAMBRIA – A 73-year-old man told Niagara County sheriff’s deputies that six guns, valued at more than $1,500 were stolen from a gun cabinet in his home in the 3700 block of Ridge Road.

The victim said that sometime between Nov. 16 and 26, someone entered his home and took a number of long guns from his gun cabinet, breaking the cabinet to gain entry. He said he has suspicions about one person who is aware of the cabinet and knows where the spare key is hidden.

Stolen were four various shotguns, as well as a Ruger and a Savage. Total loss and damage were put at $1,775.

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Emergency doctor arrested on federal drug charge

November 28, 2012, 1:13 pm
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A Youngstown doctor faces a federal misdemeanor drug charge after his arrest by agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and members of the Niagara County Drug Task Force.

Dr. Daniel Gillick, 62, appeared in federal court this afternoon in connection with his arrest late Tuesday night after he allegedly attempted to purchase crack cocaine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy C. Lynch identified him as a doctor who specializes in emergency services and who has worked in at least two hospital emergency rooms.

Prosecutors charged Gillick and a woman who has been living with him, Christine Guilfoyle, 27, with misdemeanor possession of powdered and crack cocaine.

The two were living in a disheveled-looking home on Main Street in Youngstown that was littered with drug paraphernalia, according to police.

Federal agents investigated the case “as quickly as possible” after learning about 10 days ago that Gillick was involved in buying and using illegal drugs, said Dale M. Kasprzyk, resident agent in charge of the Buffalo DEA office.

“We went right to the U.S. attorney and moved as quickly as possible. We had concerns about having a doctor who was a drug abuser working in emergency rooms, and possibly making bad decisions that could affect the public safety,” Kasprzyk said. “We also did not want such a doctor working in a hospital where drugs would be available, and did not want such a doctor writing prescriptions for people.”

When agents arrested him, Gillick turned in his DEA drug prescription license, which means he can no longer legally prescribe controlled substances, Lynch said during today’s court appearance.

Gillick told Magistrate Judge Hugh B. Scott that he makes “good money ... $90 to $100 an hour” working for a company that provides doctors for duty in hospital emergency rooms.

According to court papers, Gillick recently has worked at Medina Memorial Hospital in Medina, and at Schuyler Hospital in Montour Falls, which is in Schuyler County near Watkins Glen. An administrator at the Medina hospital told The Buffalo News Gillick does not work there, and officials at the Schuyler Hospital could not immediately be reached for comment.

Gillick is the third local doctor arrested in the past two years after DEA investigations into illegal dealings with narcotics or prescriptions for painkiller drugs.

Buffalo FBI agents also assisted on the case.

email: dherbeck@buffnews.com
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Amherst man accused of selling counterfeit sports caps

November 28, 2012, 4:10 pm
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TOWN OF NIAGARA – An Amherst man was arrested by Niagara County sheriff’s deputies Wednesday for selling alleged counterfeit sports caps like those made by New Era and other manufacturers at the Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls, Sheriff James R. Voutour said

Weiliang Chen, 31, originally from White Plains, was taken into custody at the outlet mall, 1900 Military Road, in this township about 1 p.m. He is charged with a felony count of trademark counterfeiting in the second-degree, which carries a possible prison term of up to four years.

The sheriff said his agencies and the Town of Niagara Police Department conducted a joint investigation and seized more than 200 counterfeit caps with a retail value of more than $6,000 as Chen was arrested. He faces further proceedings in the Town of Niagara Court, where he was arraigned Wednesday afternoon.
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North Tonawanda murder case moves to county level

November 28, 2012, 5:20 pm
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Brian C. Lowry appeared in North Tonawanda City Court today on charges of second-degree murder . He waived his right to a felony hearing and the case will be moved to Niagara County Court.

Lowry, 32, of Ypsilanti, Mich., will continue to be held without bail in the County Jail while his court case continues. He is accused in the death of 34-year-old Heather M. Rylowicz, whose body was found near her Lincoln Avenue home Nov. 21. Police said Lowry was an acquaintance of Rylowicz and that the woman died from a combination of blunt- and sharp-force trauma to the head and neck.

Police had been looking for Rylowicz’s car, but learned Tuesday that the green 2008 Ford Taurus station wagon was impounded prior to her death by another acquaintance of Lowry’s, who was arrested on a driving while intoxicated charge in Buffalo.

“The two cases are not related,” said Capt. William Hall, chief of detectives, who did not name the charged motorist. “He doesn’t have any involvement,” Hall said.

North Tonawanda police investigators plan to process the vehicle for possible evidence in the murder case.
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Falls City Council acts to cut taxes, restore some jobs

November 28, 2012, 5:27 pm
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NIAGARA FALLS – City lawmakers on Wednesday took the ax to Mayor Paul A. Dyster’s proposed budget, making a slew of cuts that would erase a proposed 8 percent tax hike and restore half of the two dozen jobs that were set to be cut from city government.

All but one of the 150 amendments to the budget passed unanimously, and the deepest cuts come from the areas of economic development and planning – specifically the city’s funding of the state’s economic revitalization arm, USA Niagara Development Corp.

Lawmakers also slashed the salaries of two of Dyster’s top department heads and cut funds set aside for the use of outside consultants on city projects, road paving and public safety overtime. The City Council also created its own discretionary account that leaders said could be used for unexpected costs.

“Based on comments from [residents after] the mayor’s budget, we just did what they told us to do,” said Council Chairman Sam F. Fruscione.

The Council cut roughly $3.1 million in spending from Dyster’s proposed $96 million budget, with the greatest amount coming from funds to USA Niagara, which has worked to revitalize the barren downtown development scene for the past decade. Dyster said he would review the amendments before commenting but said he was most concerned about the cuts to the development agency.

“If anything, we’ve been trying to accelerate economic development downtown,” Dyster said. “In order to get results, you have to make investments.”

Fruscione questioned the city’s return on its yearly investment.

“At this point in time, we’re breaking our ties with USA Niagara,” Fruscione said. “You want real development? Keep the tax rate at zero percent – you’ll get development.”

The Council also slashed two jobs in the planning and economic development department – which were funded by revenues from the Seneca Niagara Casino – and decided not to fill the position of the business development director, which has been vacant since January. Fruscione said other members of the department would pick up their responsibilities.

Lawmakers then cut the salary of City Administrator Donna D. Owens by $40,000 and the salary of City Engineer Jeffrey Skurka by $18,000. After the reductions, Owens and Skurka are set to make $70,000 and $77,000, respectively. City officials sought to portray the cuts as political – the two department heads have repeatedly clashed with the Council – while Councilman Glenn A. Choolokian disputed that notion.

“We’re looking at productivity, who is was really doing the work for the money, and those two positions really needed to be decreased,” said Choolokian, who Fruscione credited with making most of the budget amendments.

The Council held no public budget hearings with department heads, as it had done in prior years. Fruscione said the Council did not have enough time – it had one month instead of two to amend the budget – because Dyster delayed his presentation of the budget by a month.

Dyster is expected to veto many of the cuts and the Council will need four votes to override the vetoes. The budget must be adopted by Dec. 1. The city struggled to balance the budget, leaders said, because of $58 million in unpaid revenues from the Seneca Niagara Casino.



email: cspecht@buffnews.com
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