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Crews were out hotpatching again on Thursday
The Niagara Falls City Council voted Wednesday to delay voting to spend $375,000 on a Steri-Space air sanitization unit for the John Duke Senior Center on Hyde Park Boulevard.
The expenditure was proposed by the Administration of Mayor Rober Restaino and would be funded with American Rescue Plan dollars allocated to the city post-covid by the administration of President Biden.
The money in question was initially allocated for three different projects that came in under budget according to a letter from Mayor Restaino to the council.
The city already spent $1.8 million on HVAC renovations at the same center.
The council meeting was preceded by a press release from E3 Communications that included the mayor urging the council to pass the resolution. E3 has yet to send a press release promoting any council action and instead, as an outside vendor appears to be functioning as the mayor's public relations agency.
The project was not subject to bidding, according to communication to the council because the vendor, “You First Services” is a “single source provider” according to state law so bidding is not a requirement. A PDF of the presentation Steri-Cycle gave to the council is attached.
Several speakers, including former councilperson Donta Myles questioned prioritizing the Duke Center proposal over spending money on things like tearing down dilapidated buildings and fixing alleys and potholes.
Another speaker, Tanya Barone wondered from the podium how it was the administration could prioritize indoor air at the senior center while ignoring the public health crisis that is toxic carcinogens spewing from the Goodyear plant.
Acting Corporation Counsel Thomas DeBoy, the only administration representative present for the meeting, attempted to answer some of the audience criticism by citing that Spallino Towers and pothole repair were both not included as initial objectives for ARP spending so they couldn’t be added now.
Councilperson David Zajac moved to postpone the expenditure with a second from Vincent Cauley. Ultimately, the motion passed 4-1.
Perry noted his council companions had possession of the agenda since Friday and that should have been enough time for questions to be answered.
In other action, a new agreement for the city to purchase power from the New York Power Authority was passed after a presentation by attorney Edward Perlman. The bottom line from 2025, according to Perman, was the city received reduced electric rates of about $1.6 million.
Cauley and Councilperson Bridgette Cauley both voted to postpone the decision but the motion failed 3-2.
Here is how Rick Pfeiffer reported on the power agreement in the Gazette. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/niagara-falls-city-council-approves…?
