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(Editor’s note: I watched so you don’t have to.)
Good news
Niagara Falls Redevelopment never followed through on its threat to appeal the Supreme Court ruling that said the city could use eminent domain to create a parcel for the proposed Centennial Park.
The parcel, which includes the former 10th Street playground, was turned over to NFR under an agreement reached by Mayor Irene Elia in 2003 and was signed over by Mayor Vince Anello in 2004.
While the city deeded the land, Mayor Robert Restaino wants everyone to know for the action to be official, the city would need approval of a “home rule” message from the state legislature. That home rule message was never requested.
There is no discussion yet over whether NFR is owed a refund for property taxes it paid over more than 20 years on a parcel it did not own.
A resolution authorizing legal action to recover title to the property is on the agenda for Wednesday’s City Council meeting. The draft agenda is attached.
Criticizing the Gazette
Restaino said he provided information to the Niagara Gazette on the 10th Street deed issue but no story has appeared.
“Whether it’s the editor, the publisher, or the writers at the Gazette here we are on the 17th, a week and a half later” and nothing has appeared he said.
The mayor even speculated NFR asked the dwindling paper not to publish or in some other way interfered.
He could be proactive and use the Express. We have more daily subscribers than the Gazette but hey, the world never changes.
Optimistic about the OHL
The mayor said he met last week with Ontario Hockey League Commissioner Bryan Crawford about an expansion club coming to Niagara Falls for the junior hockey league.
“The creation of this event center can bring to us a junior professional hockey team” Restaino said.
The players are amateurs ages 16 to 20 and are sometimes drafted into professional hockey.
Everything is really very preliminary Restaino said.
If the Thunder couldn’t make it in Niagara Falls, Ontario with a population of about 93,000 and is OK in Erie, a city of about the same size, who believes it will be lucrative here?
More Gazette bashing
“I am hoping that the Gazette will at some point provide sort of an even and balanced view of this project,” Restaino said. “You think that a community newspaper would support those things that are good for the community.”
With that he turned on NFR.
“I don’t know how or why the state would provide authority to put a data center right in the middle of downtown,” Restaino said. “. . . This supposed alleged data center can’t happen.”
He cited other examples of things that didn’t happen for NFR, for example:
- A 20-story $100 million luxury hotel and spa that was supposed to be at site of the turtle never moved beyond a website
- The 100 million hotel and resort that was supposed to be on the Centennial Park site likewise never materialized.
“Following the same theme,” Restaino said said of the data center, the largest new development proposed in the city in the last 50 years, “we can now say that not only did we think it was never going to happen now it is impossible to happen.”
LED lighting changeover continues
Crews continue working through the city replacing incandescent lighting with LED.
The amount of light reflecting into some homes from streetlights has been reduced by at least 50%. It is a big quality of life improvement in some homes with street-facing bedrooms.
Honoring police
The mayor attended an event recognizing police on Friday, the annual award ceremony is documented extensively on Facebook by Rob Bennett (Robshots.)
“They work hard every day and the only time we notice is when they are there for us.”
Drive carefully
Snow came back. Be careful. People walking in the street because business owners haven’t cleared the walks.
The Niagara Memorial Medical Center annual gala is this weekend. Support the hospital and Go Bills.
