Niagara Views

To hire, or not to hire, in NT

Tuesday night's Common Council meeting in North Tonawanda is highlighted by a personnel item from Mayor Lawrence V. Soos.

Soos wants to fill a vacant department head post -- the director of the parks and recreation office -- that's been vacant since the end of March. Check out a story on the issue published today on buffalonews.com.

Council President Catherine G. Schwandt and Third Ward Alderwoman Nancy A. Donovan have expressed concern about filling the post. Alderman-at-large Brett M. Sommer said Soos' choice, Patricia A. Brosius, is the logical one, but added he wants to defer to Mayor-elect Robert G. Ortt, who is taking office at the start of the year.

When I spoke with him on Sunday, Ortt said he wanted time to review and discuss the situation with other city officials.

He said although he wasn't responsible for direct oversight, the parks and recreation department seemed to function well under the current structure since Jerry Whitehead retired. He might consider a plan he said was previously discussed by Soos' administration to split the department in two and offer those in charge a little more pay, Ortt said.

The council's full agenda for Tuesday night's meeting is available here.

--Aaron Besecker

Listening in at our hazardous waste ground zero

Residents of Lewiston and Porter gave state environmental regulators another earful last week.

At issue -- though representatives of the state Department of Environmental Conservation claimed otherwise -- was the future of the Northeast's only commercial hazardous waste landfill, CWM Chemical Services.

The agency was tasked with devising a plan to guide the development of hazardous waste facilities in 1987.

CWM, located on Balmer Road, has been looking for permission from the state to construct a new landfill since 2003. The company wants to add 6 million tons of capacity.

Last week's public hearings on the latest draft plan -- Wednesday night in Niagara Falls and Thursday night in Lewiston Porter High School -- gave the public its second chance to comment on the draft in two years.

In the latest draft, the state asserted it finds no need to create additional landfill capacity within New York -- something many in the local community have been arguing. Here's my story from October when the lastest draft was released.

In each of the last two drafts, regulators have also contended waste sites are distributed fairly throughout the state, even though Niagara County is home to the only commercial hazardous waste landfill in operation.

Below, you can listen to some of the comments offered at Thursday's hearing at Lew-Port.

--Aaron Besecker

Assemblywoman Francine Delmonte

Jim Ward, from Sen. George Maziarz's office

Village of Lewiston Mayor William Geiben

Niagara County Legislator John Ceretto

CWM employee Chuck Aube

Laborers Local 91 representative Robert Connolly

Teamsters Local 449 President George Harrigan

Peter Cotter, UB Environmental Law and Policy Clinic

April Fideli, president of Residents for Responsible Government

The Rev. Charles Lamb, Youngstown resident

Amy Witryol, Lewiston resident

Lewiston Supervisor Fred M. Newlin II

A portion of comments from R. Nils Olsen Jr., UB Environmental Law and Policy Clinic

NT's finances, New Year's plans

Here's the story I wrote off last night's North Tonawanda Common Council meeting, dealing with a potentially troublesome short-term outlook for city finances.

Also, here's a link to yesterday's post, outlining the Council's agenda for last night's meeting.

The agenda items discussed by former mayor David Burgio (pictured below) were actually two separate things, despite how they were listed on the agenda.

Per last night's discussion, the Council is expected to vote on a request to hold a New Year's Eve ball drop at Webster and Sweeney streets when they meet again on Tuesday. The event will be almost exactly like last year's, though the beer tent will be curtailed slightly, Burgio told lawmakers.

Organizers are requesting use of the city's entertainment trailer and 40 garbage cans. They also want Webster closed between Sweeney and Tremont streets, and to close one block of Sweeney at Gateway Park. The Renaissance Bridge over the Erie Canal, connecting Webster in North Tonawanda and Main Street in the City of Tonawanda, would be closed an hour before midnight in order to prepare for the ball drop and fireworks.

Burgio also updated lawmakers on ongoing improvements to the greenhouses at the city's Botanical Gardens. The work is being done by volunteers with Project Pride, and has been funded through grants from the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission and the Downtown Merchants Association in NT, Burgio said.

--Aaron Besecker

On tap tonight in NT

North Tonawanda lawmakers have a longer-than-usual agenda for their workshop, scheduled for 5:45 p.m. today in City Hall.

Here's what's on tap:

--Building Inspector Cosimo R. Capozzi is coming in to discuss a request for a portable sign from Vito's Avenue Pizzeria, 236 Zimmerman St.

--David Conti, chairman of the Property Maintenance Task Force, will discuss auction specs for the former Mirror Room, a vacant property at Eighth Avenue and Oliver Street starting at 6:15.

--Former mayor David Burgio is scheduled to talk with the Common Council on an issue titled "New Year's Eve ball drop, Botanical Gardens" at 6:45.

--City Accountant David Jakubaszek is scheduled to discuss "water/sewer budget" at 7.

--A general discussion is scheduled to begin at 7:30.

The meeting -- which is open to the public -- will be held in the office of the city clerk in City Hall, 216 Payne Ave.

--Aaron Besecker

Niagara and Utah: kindred spirits?

Nobody wants to live near a dump, especially when the dump is created with waste brought in from somewhere else.

That argument -- long utilized by some in Niagara County in the fight against the expansion of CWM Chemical Services' hazardous waste landfill in Lewiston and Porter -- is echoed in the fight to bring nuclear waste from outside the United States into Utah.

The Deseret News (Salt Lake City) published a story last week about a House panel's move to block a proposal to bring 20,000 tons of nuclear waste from Italy, dumping leftovers in a Utah desert.

Here's The Salt Lake Tribune's editorial on the issue.

--Aaron Besecker