Cantankerous council meets again

The Niagara Falls Council met Wednesday for more of the same.

Most everything on the agenda, from shifting funding for projects to authorizing NORLIC to seal up vacant properties it hopes to acquire passed, usually by a unanimous vote.

The council also approved the garbage tax for another year. Donta Myles voted no on the fee which is semantically called “user fees.”

The council unanimously approved an easement for encroachment on a right-of-way by the Marriott as part of its expansion project. The Buffalo Avenue hotel will be nearly doubling in size.

Modification of zoning of R1 and R2 districts to limit the rights of property owners to rent rooms will be delayed a year because a memo from Mayor Robert Restaino said the process of acquiring Main Street properties currently in foreclosure and earmarked for Niagara University Housing is going to take longer than expected.

Sinatra Development, a Buffalo developer with a shaky reputation for its Heritage Point Development as well as property taxes in Buffalo is said to be the chosen developer for the project.

The Restaino administration has a history of choosing poorly vetted vendors like Rod Davis for plum development opportunities as happened a few years ago. That failed project has never resurfaced.

Hopefully Niagara University politics don’t kill things before they start as you can make the case happened when the TReC Center closed.

Meanwhile, after the council delayed the exchange in zoning laws it was time for speakers for the good of the community.

Janine Gallo once again spoke about Kelli Swagel and the Pit Chic business which has been providing the city with dog shelter services.

The city is in the process of building a new shelter facility in Hyde Park, using $4.2 million in American Rescue Plan funds for a project that, like Swagel’s contract, was never put out to bid.

Gallo owns Paws in the Falls in Wheatfield and said her new facility, fully built out, licensed by state ag and markets is now up and running.

She said after the meeting she has received numerous calls from other municipalities seeking shelter services.

Tanya Barone also spoke. Barone made the council aware of information she received following a freedom of information request that shows the city has spent extensively in helping Swagel outfit her facility, purchasing things like fencing and kennels.

Myles, before the meeting, said he attempted to put an item on the agenda creating a request for proposals for dog sheltering services but was denied because corporation counsel DeBoy said under the city charter, creating an RFP can only be done by the administrative branch, not the legislative.

The meeting also included another presentation from Arlene Jackson Doss on the neglected 4th Legislative District’s need for a long-promised park. The Express will write more about that on another day but an agenda item to fund the park was once again voter down 3-2 with Myles and Brian Archie in favor.