79° and Sunny
(Editor’s note: Most weeks, Niagara Falls Mayor Bob Restaino pontificates on his ruminations and issues proclamations to his minions from the Youtube mountaintop. This week, he explains his stance on the Milstein Group as well as referring to Mark Scheer as Jimmy Olson.)
Parks
“We have a vigorous program to improve parks. Picnic and other shelters in Hyde Park have new metal roofing.
“91st and Gill Creek are close to completion as is Black Creek Park.
“Animal shelter construction in Hyde Park is progressing and the temporary shelter is working out well.”
Free mulch available
If you need mulch, there is free mulch available in the south parking lot of the ice pavilion at Hyde Park.
It’s free. Take what you need.
Fixing holes and paving
Street repair season, crews are completing 79th Street. 78th is next we are working east to west. As OT is available, crews are filling potholes. The Pothole Killer will be in town next week.
Baseball returns
The Americans are back at Hyde Park for the second year. Get out and enjoy them. Collegiate baseball at its best.
New equipment will be installed over the next few weeks. The next game is 4 p.m. Sunday.
June 26 food truck Thursday’s returns to the train station.
Sign up for text alerts
Text 716-325-5723 with the word “resident” to find out about street repair, events and more.
Duke Center closed Monday
Monday, June 9 Duke Center will be closed for maintenance. Work is underway to make it more hospitable.
Gazette clarification
“In order to be able to bring some clarity to things, the local paper often misses the mark on things. They are looking more to create a story than to simply report what you need to know. As you know, the Milstein Group has filed an urban development plan, planned urban development structure. Really, what this is, is an end run around zoning.
“I say end run around zoning not in terms of it being illegal but certainly it is an end run because the area that Milstein’s Group wants to develop with these data centers, ‘alleged data centers,’ is zoned as a downtown district and data centers according to the city’s zoning laws, must be in industrial centers. So this ‘planned urban development’ again, it is an end-run around that.
“I think some of the things this highlights is the city is not depriving Milstein of the process. They provided us several weeks ago or maybe a month or so ago with their original planned urban development. It was incomplete. It was insufficient.
“We sent it back with suggestions, again, cooperating and participating and they submitted this next document. There is a process it has to go through. And so the indication that the city council has somehow approved that, is not the process. Again, sometimes as I stated, our local paper just misses the mark. A planned urban development has a series of steps it has to go through. One of the steps is trying to integrate things like this industrial use for data centers with houses and other things like, in that particular area, the Holy Trinity Site so it will be interesting to see how their plan makes it through, given the fact they don’t even own all of the properties in this planned urban development that they’re suggesting.
“All of which, obviously, the Milstein Group can have the opportunity to present for consideration. Again, let’s just make sure we understand this is nothing more than a process with local government being prepared to be the lead agency in moving the process forward. It isn’t anything more than the city cooperating with an alleged development in a way that make sure that it has appropriate vetting.
“And while I am on the topic of things that get reported that obviously often miss the mark, again the Gazette, specifically Mr. Scheer, misinforms people by suggesting this feasibility study that seems to be very much in their focus, there has never been a discussion that it is not going to be disclosed to the public. I never insinuated that it was not going to be disclosed to the public.
“But you know how that crack reporting is. They like to fund some “conspiracy” in everything. Unfortunately, I don’t think they have listened carefully to what has been said. And that is, for a period of time, it was just getting the additional information necessary so that the feasibility study could be complete, also sharing the feasibility study with the entities that financed it. Ultimately the entire feasibility study can and will be disclosed to the entire public, everybody. Everybody will have access to it. Everybody will know what is contained in it. “So this idea that there is some ‘failure to disclose,’ it is all part of that same narrative that really has no basis in fact. It is more about spinning things. How can they convince people of a conspiracy?
“It reminds me of a reporter that was in a TV show. His name was ‘Jimmy’ and I can’t remember his last name but that is kind of what it is like, looking for some nefarious story hidden somewhere in there.
“But those are the facts with regard to the feasibility study, as well as the facts with regard to the Milstein Planned Urban Development. It is nothing more than again, an end run around the zoning process in order to try and get what they would like to build again in a place where it is typically not permitted, so more on that as it begins to wind its way through the process.”
Weather Report
This weekend we will have more seasonable weather. Enjoy the outdoors. It was a bit of a cranky winter and an unseasonable spring. Be aware of our handicapped residents as they move along on the sidewalks as well as bicycles and scooters and all of the other vehicles that operate along our roadways. We know that more and more of our guests are coming in, regional as well as international, be mindful of traffic delays because that will happen as the season continues to unfold.
