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Centennial Park, the development dream of Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino proposed on a privately owned parcel adjacent to the Seneca Casino a half-mile from the entertainment district, will get a feasibility study with a $140,000 budget funded by National Grid and Niagara USA Development.
One item in the proposed study caused consternation for councilperson Donta Myles: The inclusion of the potential expenditure of up to $7,500 in American Rescue Plan funds for transportation and lodging during the study.
The city has already expended more than $1 million on outside legal counsel for acquisition of the proposed park site in a blighted area owned by Niagara Falls Redevelopment.
NFR has owned 140 downtown acres for more than 25 years and proposed a $1.5 billion data center at John Daly Boulevard and Niagara Street before the new hockey rink proposal surfaced.
“I don’t care if it is $25,” Myles pleaded. “We are taking money we should be spending on poor people.”
Myles questioned whether the appropriation of ARP funds was appropriate because of the difficult restrictions placed on allocation by the federal government. Most of the expenditures have gone to police and fire equipment. Little has gone to things like youth services or quality of life issues like a forestry plan including tree planting and maintenance.
Councilperson Traci Bax, in countering Myles argument, pointed out spending $7,500 is .03% of the proposed $140,000 expenditure. (Editor’s note: $7,500 is .055% of $140,000.)
Funding for the study passed 4-1 with Myles against.
