Sunday, January 29, 2012

Tire Fire Reveals Substandard City Services

Firefighters finish job in Lockport tire blaze

By Thomas J. Prohaska
News Niagara Reporter

LOCKPORT — Firefighters disconnected the last yellow hose that snaked from a hydrant and into a Lockport recycling plant at about 11 a. m. Saturday, where a tire fire had burned since Friday afternoon.
The blaze at Liberty Tire Recycling, 490 Ohio St., started at about 2:15 p. m. Friday. It sent a mass of black smoke drifting east across the city that could be seen at least 10 miles away. After nightfall Friday, smoke could still be seen in the headlights of traffic on South Transit Street, Route 78, near the center of the city, and the smell was pervasive downwind of the fire in the city’s west end.
Liberty Tire is in an industrial zone that is also near homes, including a residential neighborhood on Stevens Street. There were no evacuations, but residents were advised to stay inside and not open their windows.
Ohio Street and other nearby roads remained closed Saturday, but authorities were not vigilant, and residents and workers easily navigated around the orange blockades.
Mayor Michael W. Tucker said the fire was the result of a broken electrical line that fell on a pile of tires.
“I think the fire or heat raced through that wire and overheated it. That caused the transmission line to break and fall on the tires. It was bad luck, but at the same time, those tires shouldn’t have been there,” Tucker said.
The mayor said he thought the city may have a building code violation case to pursue against the company.
“It’s another example of why we need the [U. S.] Environmental Protection Agency and [New York State] Department of Environmental Conservation doing inspections on a regular basis at even some of the smaller facilities,” said Erin Heaney, executive director of the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York. “I think this also shows the continued need for the DEC to be able to do air monitoring when there are accidents at facilities that could threaten public health.”
Derek Martin, who said he was the property owner but not the plant’s operator, declined to speak to The Buffalo News or allow access to fire officials at the scene.
Martin invited residents or workers from the neighborhood to contact him directly about health or safety concerns from the fire or any violations that may have occurred on his property.
A spokesman for the corporate office of Liberty Tire Recycling, in Pittsburgh, also declined to comment.
News Staff Reporters Tim Graham and Mark Sommer contributed to this report.


Sooty silver lining after tire fire

By Jim Krencik
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

Firefighters were able to extinguish a large pile of burning rubber tires on Lockport’s west end after an all-night battle Saturday morning, but the cleanup has just begun at the site and at local homes sullied by soot.
The fire, contained to an open area at Liberty Tire Recycling, 490 Ohio St., spewed heat and thick black smoke over the city for hours before firefighters, with the help of Liberty’s heavy equipment, picked apart and extinguished the burning material piece-by-piece. Fire department personnel were still on the scene Saturday evening to prevent a re-ignition at the facility.
“Rubber requires copious amounts of water ... it just won’t go out,” Lockport Fire Department Capt. Patrick Brady said. “It’s been a long, laborious process.”
According to LFD Assistant Chief Joe Morello, the tire fire began between 2 and 2:30 p.m. Friday when a live industrial power line fell on the pile of rubber after partially melting following a short circuit.
An initial fire in a building at the facility was put out swiftly using carbon dioxide extinguishers. Tackling the tire fire was much harder. Morello said LFD and responders from the South Lockport Fire Co. and Rapids Fire Co. were slowed by a water supply problem that required running as much as 2,000 feet of hose from nearby hydrants to the fire.
“We wouldn’t have been able to make the connections without the volunteer fire companies’ hoses,” Morello said.
Members of the platoon that was on duty Friday afternoon and around 25 more firefighters called in to the fire cycled between the site and the fire station throughout the evening and morning. The fire was officially declared over around noon.
Morello said no department equipment was heavily damaged in the fire response, aside from being coated with greasy soot. Engine No. 7, the department’s newest truck, did have to be towed away from the site Saturday, but that was due to an engine issue.
The fire did not spread from the pile of tires, but the plume of smoke over the city left soot across the area. In the northeast end of the city, retired street supervisor Dennis Brockman found that a cement deck in the backyard of his home was covered in oily soot after his white dogs came back into the house blackened after they were let out Saturday morning.
Mayor Mike Tucker said Saturday that with air quality tests taken during the fire revealing no dangers to residents, his concern has turned to the cleanup.
“The concern now is that people are waking up to find their houses and cars are covered in soot,” said Tucker, who has been recommending that residents hose down the sooty structures. “I think the company is liable.”
Tucker said the city intends to meet with representatives from Liberty this week to discuss their business, the fire and the need for the company to be in better compliance with city regulations. He added the company has always promptly responded to city concerns in the past.
“We’re going to investigate,” Tucker said. “We’re concerned by the fact that it’s the second fire since September ... it’s what the residents expect of us and it’s what we’ll do.”
The Sept. 7 fire gutted a building at the site, causing an estimated $2 million to $3 million in damage. The Lockport Police Department has not yet issued a report on this weekend’s fire, but heavy damaged was visible at the site.

— additional reporting by Stephen M. Wallace.


A couple things stood out in the reports published in the above articles. First off, in the Buffalo News article, the Mayor explains how the fire began- apparently he is now a qualified fire investigator. Also, in the same article, the Mayor indicates that the tires that caught fire were in the wrong location and that the City may be pursuing some building code violations. Hey, maybe it's just me but if there was a fire in September of  2011 shouldn't the City pay a little more attention to see that there is no recurrence of  a similar incident, but they didn't and so now according to the US&J “We’re going to investigate,” Tucker said. “We’re concerned by the fact that it’s the second fire since September ... it’s what the residents expect of us and it’s what we’ll do.” No, actually Mike, we expect you to be proactive and not reactive, duh!
What you don't read about in the newspaper accounts and what really needs to be talked about, is the fact that there was over an hour delay before area volunteers were called to assist. I wonder why? According to reports from several sources around the City, apparently the delay occurred because the City's Firefighter Union require that all union members be called to a scene before asking for mutual aid. Just remember that when there is a large scale emergency where several lives are at risk and one of them may be your own!
Don't get me started on the classless thanks given to the Vols for their fire hoses.

As a side note, can anyone explain the headline in the US&J? Where exactly is the "silver lining" in all this?

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Liar! Liar! Pants on Fire!

Failure to receive summons delays Housing Court case

LOCKPORT—The owner of the partially collapsed Peters Dry Cleaning store was scheduled for a Housing Court arraignment on building code violation charges Thursday, but he said he didn’t go because he hadn’t been served with a summons.
Chief Building Inspector Jason Dool told Judge Thomas M. DiMillo that he had sent notice to store owner Patrick McFall, but DiMillo said there was no such letter in the court file and adjourned the case for a week.
McFall said in a phone interview that he was not served even though his new store is less than a block from City Hall. “I’m not going if I’m not served,” he said. “This is just part of the city’s campaign to harass me.”
One wing of his former store on Willow Street caved in Dec. 15. Since then, McFall and the city have been arguing over possible demolition. Deputy Corporation Counsel Matthew E. Brooks said the city filed a notice Thursday seeking a court hearing on “the safety of what remains.”

According to this Buffalo News article and several reports from witnesses of the the proceedings, the City's Chief Building Inspector, Jason Dool, lied to the Judge during a housing court hearing! Makes you wonder, if he is willing to lie to a Judge, who else would he lie to and/or what reports might he falsify? At the very least, Mr. Dool should be found in contempt of court, I would prefer to see him let go for violating the public trust! Don't hold your breath on any action being taken by the City though, heads will turn the other way, just as they did for Pat Schrader.

As a side observation, conspicuously absent was any type of report or coverage by the Lockport Union Sun & Journal. But we're not really surprised by that, are we?

Monday, January 23, 2012

How Not To 'Woo' Business In Lockport

‘Disregard’ spurs Hicks to pull offer for 51 Canal

By Thomas J. Prohaska
News Niagara Reporter

LOCKPORT — A clothing store has withdrawn its offer to buy a building at 51 Canal St. because its owner didn’t feel the city was really interested in him.
Lindsey Hicks, of Picasso Moon, who wanted to relocate his business from Main Street, said last week he might end up in Buffalo.
His was the clothing business city officials previously said wanted 51 Canal St.
A recreational sales business wants to buy both 51 and 79-81 Canal St., while a third contender, a gift and decor shop interested only in 79-81 Canal, seems to have receded in the city’s view.
R. Charles Bell, city director of planning and development, said the recreational sales business may feature seasonal activity offerings of potential tourist interest, such as rentals of bicycles and other sporting goods.
However, he said, the deal isn’t ready for the board of the city’s development corporation to vote on yet, though that could change by meeting time Thursday.
Bell denied that the Greater Lockport Development Corp. was slighting Hicks.
He said the corporation, which owns the vacant commercial buildings on Canal Street, took Hicks’ proposal “very seriously.”
Bell said, “The group liked him. They liked his energy, the fact he would have lived on-site [51 Canal contains a vacant apartment], his business sense, his business savvy.”
But Hicks said he withdrew his bid Jan. 5 because even though he expressed interest six weeks before in the recreational sales business, the city was more interested in the latter.
“Coupled with the GLDC’s track record of disregard for previous local businesses that had interest before me, we felt exactly what is happening would happen, and on Jan. 5, I called to retract my bid with Mr. Bell. Since then we have been looking at other spaces to move to,” Hicks wrote in an email to The Buffalo News.
In an interview, Hicks added, “I would leave voice mails for Mr. Bell, and he wouldn’t return my calls.”
“I did get the sense he was frustrated,” Bell said. He thought Hicks needed faster action than the GLDC could offer because he needs to move.
Hicks, who bought the business a little over a year ago, said Picasso Moon is subleasing from a neighboring business, Just Lookin’, and the lease is up soon. Picasso Moon, which started in the Lockport Mall in 1994, has been on Main Street since 2004.
“Basically, I was willing to buy the building ‘as is,’ pay for everything to finish it and move an 18-year-old established business that is open seven days a week, year-round, to be a cornerstone on that block to attract more business, create jobs and give citizens a reason to go down that street every day, which we haven’t had in 20-plus years,” Hicks said. “I could only be strung along for so long.”
tprohaska@buffnews.com

In typical Lockport Economic Developement and GLDC fashion, we are poised to lose another business in the City. Let's face it, if you don't fit the magic mould, you're not wanted. That would be understandable if anyone could figure out exactly what that mould looks like, unfortunately, even the GLDC and the City don't know what they want. So, it is no surprise that when presented with multiple offers simultaneously, they can't pull the trigger and get the deal done. Can anyone say "dysfunctional"?

nullI

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Why the Packet Boat Sunk in Lockport

Doubting that ‘universe wants this to happen’

Civic leaders in Lockport look askance at plan to build canalboat replica

By Thomas J. Prohaska
News Niagara Reporter

LOCKPORT— Michael R. Weekes is looking for a place to construct a replica of a 19th century Erie Canal packet boat after the Dale Association, which was letting him use a building that it owned, told him last week to go away.
Civic leaders also questioned whether they were getting what they thought they were from Weekes, who also has proposed a sports museum for the Buffalo waterfront.
Weekes said he has talked with a Lockport business that may make some space available to him for completion of the boat.
“It’s a shame I can’t find a place and the support I need, but I’m not giving up. The universe wants this to happen,” Weekes said.
Weekes tried to get the Dale Association, a nonprofit human services agency, to pay some utility bills incurred in the course of his project, according to Maureen A. Wendt, its director of development.
“There were bills that were being forwarded to the Dale Association that were not part of the original agreement,” Wendt said last week.
Linda L. Van Buskirk, executive director of the Dale Association, said that there were unpaid bills totaling about $1,500 for installation of lights and fixtures and a furnace inspection.
Weekes said the association’s facilities manager had a local contractor install $450 worth of lights inside the former Sir Billiards on Lock Street, now owned by the association. The work was done without his knowledge, he said, but he hadn’t planned on paying utility bills for the site.
“I was laying out a substantial amount of money for materials and couldn’t afford to take on utilities,” said Weekes, whose “Pride of the Erie Canal” boat was budgeted at $40,000.
Van Buskirk said the electrical work was done on the assumption that the Dale Association wouldn’t have to pay for it.
“As a not-for-profit organization, we need to stick as close to our mission statement as possible,” Wendt said. “It’s one thing to do
something good for the community. It’s another thing to incur expenses we simply can’t afford.”
Weekes has lost his support from the city’s tourism powers and from City Hall.
“We’re not interested in being involved in that project,” Mayor Michael W. Tucker said.
“I didn’t want [the Dale Association] to get hurt,” said Douglas V. Farley, director of the Erie Canal Discovery Center. “We feel partly responsible because we brought [Weekes] to the attention of the community.”
The replica boat was supposed to offer rides to tourists and be available for educational and tourism programs in Lockport for part of the year.
“When the bills came into the Dale Association, I forwarded them to Doug Farley, under the impression there was an arrangement between Mr. Weekes and Doug Farley to pay the bills,” Van Buskirk said.
It turned out that there was no such arrangement.
Weekes said that only three days of work had been done on the boat, which was no more than 10 percent complete.
He said Van Buskirk told him to remove it as soon as possible, cutting the hull up if needed to get it through the door.
Van Buskirk confirmed, “I suggested one of the ways he could do it was to take apart what he had already built.”
“In early December, some red flags went up,” said Jay C. Krull, a tourism promoter who was going to help market the boat. The cost of the boat had doubled from the original $20,000, and the size of the boat was being slightly reduced from 36-by-12 feet to 32-by-10.
Weekes said that was because the building had only a 10-foot ceiling. He said he was expecting the Dale Association to install a garage door so he could extricate the finished craft.
Van Buskirk said an overhead door is on tap for this spring. “It wasn’t for him,” she said. The association wants the door “so we can put our vehicles there and use it for more expanded storage.”
It was just a useful coincidence that the planned door installation was to occur at about the same time Weekes wanted to have his boat finished, she said.
The reduction in the boat’s size worried Krull, who had helped line up the use of the former billiard hall by Weekes.
“We were concerned about whether the boat would be historically accurate,” Krull said.
“The scale . . . would mean nothing to anyone who would enjoy it,” Weekes said.
Krull said, “Everything changed. We very succinctly put three pages of questions down and he wouldn’t answer them.”
He grew suspicious of Weekes’ claims to be an experienced boat builder and asked for photos of the three replica boats that Weekes said he had built. However, he received only stock photos from a catalog.
Weekes said he doesn’t have photos of the boats he has built. “I saw no need to document it,” he said.
“Come on. Who builds a boat and doesn’t take a picture of it?” Krull said.
Rick Heenan, a seasonal worker at the Erie Canal Discovery Center and the city visitor center, volunteered to work on the boat and vouched for Weekes’ skill.
“The gentleman’s an engineer. We got two-thirds of the bottom of the boat built in two days,” Heenan said.
Krull said his research turned up evidence of Weekes’ participation in only one boat.
“We found a picture of a boat he might have helped build. It was probably a 10-or 12-foot dory sitting on the side of the Buffalo River, upside down, dilapidated,” Krull said.
Weekes said that boat was thrown together with limited lumber for a contest and doesn’t reflect his full ability.
Van Buskirk said, “I don’t have any anger at anyone. Out of enthusiasm about the project, everything didn’t get nailed down as firmly as it should have been.”
Weekes said, “The title of this story should be ‘The Boat That Got Built Despite the Community That Was Supposed to Host It.’ ”
tprohaska@buffnews.com


Packet boat supporters jump ship



LOCKPORT — A Buffalo man’s plan to build and launch the Pride of the Erie Canal in Lockport is sinking.

Management of the Dale Association, which agreed to loan dormant warehouse space to packet boat builder Michael R. Weeks for six months, recently informed Weekes he must vacate the Lock Street space immediately.

Dale Association Director Linda Van Buskirk’s vacate deadline, today, will come and go with Weekes pondering how to get his 800-pound work-in-progress — it’s the base of the hull — out of the Dale property.

He says he can’t, in one piece anyway, and he hinted earlier this week that until he finds another place to build or at least store the hull, he’s not inclined to go anywhere.

Local support for Weekes’ project, announced with fanfare less than two months ago at the Erie Canal Discovery Center, has evaporated. Weekes’ primary backers — ECDC’s Doug Farley, community event organizer Jay Krull and Van Buskirk — are cutting ties with him after the Dale Association received bills for warehouse improvements and Weekes refused to pay them.

“I wish Mr. Weekes success with his endeavor, but I made the decision to ask him to leave (the Dale warehouse) because the deal has gotten murky. I felt it best not to continue on and incur any more expenses,” Van Buskirk said. “We don’t exist to support boat building; that’s not how we should be spending our money.”

The Dale Association, a not-for-profit senior citizens/human services organization, has been handed bills adding up to $1,500, for electric and heating work inside the warehouse and fuel charges incurred since early December.

According to all parties, Van Buskirk OK’d Weekes’ free, temporary use of the old Sir Billiards pool hall to build a 36-by-12-by-9-foot replica packet boat. The unimproved space was to be the Dale’s contribution to what was billed as a community history and tourism-building project.

In exchange for aiding Weekes as he built the packet boat, it was said at a Nov. 29 press conference announcing the project, the community would have occasional access to the boat, while it was being built and later at canal-linked festivals and special events. At the time, Weekes identified himself as a self-employed business improvement consultant. He said Lockport would be the Pride’s home base, meaning the city’s name would be emblazoned on the back end as he piloted it along the Erie Canal in summer. He also said the boat would be his personal property, since he was funding the $40,000 construction project completely out of his pocket, but he’d gladly “share” it with the community that helped him build it.

Weekes began boat construction at the Dale warehouse around Dec. 10.

Local support for his endeavor starting waning soon after, when the Dale received a $425 bill from one of its electric contractors, for electric work and installation of new lights in the warehouse. Weekes was shown the bill and he refused to pay it.

Weekes told the US&J that he couldn’t afford to, because at the time he was unemployed and “spending thousands of dollars a week on lumber and materials.” Then he said he thought his backers had offered to pick up any heat and electric expenses he incurred at the Dale, by fundraising; that after he, Farley and Krull drafted a budget of $2,500 for utility costs, Krull specifically agreed to obtain sponsorships and donations for that amount.

Krull said that was not their agreement. The men came up with a $2,500 budget estimate to cover miscellaneous costs, mostly expenses tied to marketing of events involving the boat and non-profit organizations. Along the way, Krull said, they estimated utility spending of about $500 at the Dale warehouse — and came up with a plan to try getting the work done for less that Weekes ignored.

Krull said he proposed asking a city building inspector to look over the warehouse and determine if Krull could do the work — mostly putting up new lights — and still keep the warehouse code-compliant; or in the alternative, obtain a discount from a certified contractor. Before a city inspection could be obtained, Krull said, Weekes went ahead and commissioned the Dale contractor on his own, based on a reference from the Dale facilities manager.

Krull, who had recruited Van Buskirk and the Dale to the project, said he had an uneasy feeling about Weekes after the first bill episode. The Dale received additional bills, for building supplies, HVAC work and locksmith service at the warehouse, the total well exceeding the $500 estimate that Weekes had helped draft, Krull said. Meanwhile, Weekes resisted entering a written agreement with his backers specifying who’d do or be responsible for what; and clearly defining Weekes’ intent to “share” the finished boat with Lockport.

How many days or weeks would Pride be in Lockport this summer? Would people be able to board and/or ride it? Would the boat be historically accurate? Why did the boat size decrease, and the cost estimate increase, as Weekes talked more about his plans? How much boat-building experience did Weekes have, anyway, and why couldn’t he show photographs of the three boats he said he’d built previously? Why didn’t he have a construction budget or documentation he possessed the means to pay for construction?

Weekes wouldn’t answer the questions definitively, orally or in writing, Krull said.

To the questions of public access, Weekes said he agreed verbally to make Pride available for public viewing 45 days this summer, for events, weekends and extended docking near ECDC, and he’d produce “passes” allowing up to 12 “guests” at a time to come aboard free of charge, but would not do formal tours because state regulators get involved in that.

Beyond the 2012 navigating season, Weekes told Farley and Krull that he’d agree to a three-year contract with ECDC and other parties, on the condition the parties find — and fund — storage space for his boat during the off season.

Earlier this month, after Weekes failed to answer Krull’s written questions about his background and intentions, Krull told Farley and Van Buskirk that he was stepping down from the partnership. Farley and Van Buskirk soon followed suit — and Weekes got notice to vacate the Dale warehouse by Jan. 30. Van Buskirk raised the deadline to today — and warned she’d have him locked out of the warehouse if he doesn’t go — after Weekes tried badgering her to reconsider, according to Krull.

“We’ve become very concerned about the direction of this, because we have no guarantees; he could let this community build a boat for him ... then sail the Erie Canal into the sunset and we’d never see him again,” Krull said. “There were a lot of discrepancies in Mr. Weekes’ commitment, in what he was going to provide in return for our support. There were just a lot of strange things and (Weekes) wouldn’t clear them up.”

Weekes said he thinks Krull soured on him for competitive reasons, including his dismissal of Krull’s offer to try doing the Dale electric work himself. He claims he’s a victim of broken promises now.

“I had an offer to build (Pride) in Buffalo, in leased space. The reason I’m here is I thought I had fundraising help,” he said. “I was sold the idea that I’d have a place to build this boat ... now here we are.”

Weekes — who says he landed a new job as an executive with Upstate New York Transplant Services last month — insists he can’t remove the unfinished hull from Dale property in one piece, and cutting into pieces would ruin it. He asserted one of his backers’ unmet “promises” was to install an overhead door before he finished building the boat, so he could tow it out whole.

Van Buskirk said she did not promise Weekes a door. The Dale Association already had plans to install an overhead door this spring, in order to use the warehouse for covered vehicle storage. Meanwhile, Weekes’ construction timeline called for a mid-May boat launch.

“By the time the boat was built, it would have been close to the time the board planned to install the overhead door, so I saw no conflict in timing the door (installation) to that,” she said. “In retrospect, I’m not sure what Mr. Weekes thought the city was going to do with him. I thought we made a short-term deal for borrowed space, because (Weekes’ project) would be good for the community, good for the city. I’m truly sorry to see it’s not working out that way.”

There are two sides to every story as the saying goes, and I'm sure there is plenty of blame for both sides on this one. What I found really interesting about this story was some of the people involved and mentioned. First consider that Jay Krull, self-proclaimed 'Events Promoter', was involved. Many who know Jay, know that vagueness is a mantra by which he conducts business, and an illegal one run out of his home. Secondly, Rick Heenan is a man who has no horse in this race (so to speak), is vouching for Mister Weekes, and Mr. Heenan is truly a stand-up guy.

But, the really telling part about this story to me, is that the Buffalo News article gives a fair, facts only investigative report, while the Union Sun & Journal gives their typical 'Tucker regime biased' opinionated approach. Just remember, when it comes to Lockport, if you're not "in", then you are definitely "out"! 

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Council puts time limit on speakers

By Thomas J. Prohaska
News Niagara Reporter

Updated: January 19, 2012, 8:03 AM
LOCKPORT — The Common Council unanimously adopted time limits for public speakers Wednesday.
Effective at the Feb. 1 meeting, speakers addressing agenda items at the start of the meeting will be limited to three minutes, while those making general remarks at the end of the session will face a five-minute limit.
“Surprised there hasn’t been a lot of opposition to a limit in time,” said Alderman John Lombardi III, R-1st Ward.
He did say some of his constituents wanted a 10-minute limit during the second comment period, but the Council wasn’t interested.
“You can say an awful lot in five minutes,” said Council President Joseph C. Kibler, R-at large.
Corporation Counsel John J. Ottaviano said the old rules called for the total length of the comment period to be 10 minutes, but no one ever enforced that.
The call for limits stemmed from several long meetings last fall that included unusually long speeches by some speakers.
“I am one of the individuals who abused the right to speak,” Anthony Sammarco, of Lincolnshire Drive, said during Wednesday’s meeting. “I know it was far too long, and no one remembers anything that was said. . . I support the three-minute rule.”
“We don’t live in Russia, China, Cuba or one of these countries,” Shirley A. Nicholas, of Mill Street, told the Council. “If you don’t want your people to speak to you, you shouldn’t have taken the job.”
Doralyn Marshall, of Waterman Street, pointed out there is no law requiring comment periods at public meetings. She said, “It is a privilege to us, and I admit some of us may have abused it.”
Mayor Michael W. Tucker said, “Our intent certainly is not to silence the public or not hear what people have to say. That would be ridiculous.”
He said some people have left Council meetings after signing up to speak because others went on too long.
In other matters, the Council adopted a gasoline and diesel fuel contract with Noco Energy Corp., which will charge 13 cents per gallon more than the Buffalo Niagara market average as determined by the Oil Price Information Service.
The Council also passed a ruling that the construction of a proposed second city marina above the Erie Canal locks will have no significant environmental impact and will be exempted from the environmental review process.
A feasibility study by Labella Associates concluded that a state-owned site on the north side of the canal between West Genesee and Stevens streets would be the best location, but funding is nowhere in sight.
tprohaska@buffnews.com

Yep, we could see this happening, but that is not what I wanted to point out in this article. Get used to seeing in print the following statement or something very similar, "The Common Council unanimously adopted...". There will be no opposing views or 'no' votes at this year's Common Council meetings, unless they're scripted, of course. The truth is difficult to hear, and even more difficult to say, Mayor Tucker is 'king' and we allow it to be this way. 
Yenull

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Council to vote on new public speaking rules

January 16, 2012

Council to vote on new public speaking rules



LOCKPORT — A motion to put time limits on public speaking in Common Council meetings will be voted on by the body when it meets Wednesday.

A proposed amendment of the rules and orders calls for imposing a time limit of three minutes per person speaking to the Council about meeting agenda items, and a limit of five minutes per person addressing the body after business meetings are adjourned.

Common Council President Joseph Kibler said per-person time limits will give all residents fair access to the microphone during Council meeting recesses. A few frequent speakers have monopolized the microphone to the extent they’re discouraging others from speaking, he said.

A second amendment to the rules and orders proposes new rules for aldermen trying to get late resolutions added to meeting agendas. If the amendment is passed by a Council majority, sponsors who miss the Thursday-before-the-meeting deadline would have to run their late resolutions past the mayor, the city attorney and the city clerk, and get approval from all three, before submitting them for Council consideration. The new system will help ensure late resolutions — which typically are not be seen by the aldermen until meeting night — are vetted before they’re voted on, Kibler said.

While I admit that sometimes I wish that a few speakers would just get to the point a little faster, I realize that not everyone is as articulate as Mayor Tucker. I think it would be helpful to at least have the Council agendas post on the City website on the Friday before the Common Council meeting, this would allow everyone who wishes to speak adequate time to either prepare their comments or contact their Alderman for information on a specific resolution.


The larger concern for all of us is the proposed second amendment which means the Council has to seek the Mayor's permission to put forth a late resolution. Apparently Joe (I don't want to improve the City) Kibler doesn't understand that it currently takes a majority vote of the Council to allow late resolutions to be added. Seems simple to me, need time to vet a late resolution, vote "no" to adding it. But, it's not really about that, is it Mike? It's about strengthening the Mayor and weakening the Common Council.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Peeping Pat



January 12, 2012

Fur flies over kennel issue

By Joyce Miles The Journal-Register

LOCKPORT — The fur’s flying this week as an animal rescue volunteer fends off an alderman’s accusations she’s keeping a “kennel” on Lincoln Drive — and the alderman defends his decision to photograph the inside of her home without her knowledge or permission.

Bobbie Mael, owner of 28 Lincoln Drive, is going on the offensive against 4th Ward Alderman Patrick Schrader and other city officials, whom she says are trying to “harass” her into letting go of cats and dogs in her care.

Mael and her alderman have long had an adverse relationship. Schrader makes no bones about his feeling that Mael, the founder of an area foster-care network for homeless dogs and cats, imports too many animals into the neighborhood. He claims Mael’s neighbors on Lincoln Drive, and on Willow Street where she’s lived for years, have longstanding gripes about odors, noise and animals on the loose. She doubts that’s true, considering her property lots are large and relatively distant from neighbors.

Simmering tension turned to a boil this past Saturday, when Schrader confronted Mael with photographs purporting to show the living room floor of 28 Lincoln Drive dirtied by litter and feces. Schrader took the photographs himself, by standing outside the house and pointing his cell phone camera in through a window. Mael was not present when he did that.

“This is a total invasion of my privacy,” she said this week. “My attorney suggested I could pursue a trespassing complaint.”

Asked about the pictures Thursday, Schrader admitted he shouldn’t have taken them — “I found out I’m not supposed to do that,” he said sheepishly — but asserted the images help demonstrate Mael is keeping too many animals. He claims Mael “told me, twice, that she’s got 40 cats in that house.”

Schrader obviously wasn’t listening too closely, Mael told the US&J. Her foster-care network, the Eastern Niagara Animal Welfare Alliance, may have 40 or so cats in various foster homes, but they’re not all living at her Lincoln Drive property, she said.

Legally, how many cats are kept at any property is irrelevant. According to City Attorney John Ottaviano, the state does not regulate cats as it does dogs; and therefore the city does not have authority to regulate cats, their number in any place or their care.

Things got worse after Schrader showed Mael his pictures. Mael ended up in a loud argument with Mayor Michael Tucker at City Hall on Monday, and she got wind of possible moves by the building inspection department regarding her Lincoln Drive property.

First Ward Alderman John Lombardi III, an advisory member of the ENAWA board of directors, said he was alarmed when he heard about Schrader’s picture-taking, and Schrader’s subsequent vow to press for a local law preventing boarding of multiple dogs and/or cats in city dwellings. He thought he could defuse the situation by helping Mael land space somewhere in the city to use as a shelter.

In the wake of the euthanasia allegations currently rocking the SPCA of Niagara, Mael said ENAWA is moving to acquire land in Wrights Corners early this year and, by fundraising, will build a no-kill shelter. Lombardi suggested Mael talk to Tucker about ENAWA turning an unused building in Outwater Park into a temporary shelter while the permanent one is raised.

The Monday meeting between Mael and Tucker didn’t go well at all, they agreed in separate interviews. Tucker turned down Mael’s request to use an Outwater building — it’s not legal, he said — and he confronted her about use of the Lincoln Drive house as an illegal “shelter.” Mael says Tucker repeated Schrader’s false allegation that she’s keeping 40 cats in the house and told her “you can’t do that.”

According to Chief Building Inspector Jason Dool, zoning law defines a shelter or “kennel” as a facility harboring three or more dogs temporarily. Kennels are not allowed in residential zones.

On Thursday, Dool disclosed that he has sent Mael a letter informing her she’s violating zoning law by maintaining a kennel on Lincoln Drive. The letter also states there may be a “sanitary” issue at the house — odor — and advises Mael that she has up to three weeks to correct the problems. Dool said that means the city wants her to “clean up and do something with the animals.”

Mael, who as of mid-Thursday had not had received the letter, already anticipated something was coming down the pike. At her invitation, she said, Niagara County Environmental Health Director James Devald visited 28 Lincoln Drive to inspect the house and animals in her care and write a report on his findings. Devald could not be reached to comment Thursday on the inspection, which Mael asserted she and the animals passed with flying colors.

“There are no issues with cleanliness, odor, the animals, anything,” Mael said. “There are no violations.”

From the city’s perspective, the “kennel” question turns on whether Mael is residing at 28 Lincoln Drive. Dool said he believes she does not, adding that his office “investigated” the property over a two-week period this past November, after a complaint from former 4th Ward Alderman Andrew Chapman, to see whether Mael was living there.

Mael insists she splits her residency between the two houses she owns on Willow and Lincoln Drive, and keeps clothing, furniture, dishes, food and other key elements of home at each. Four dogs that accompany her between houses are hers and are registered/licensed that way, Mael said; there’s no law stating she can’t keep four dogs as her pets — and, again, there’s no law regulating the maintenance of cats, period.

Schrader said he started asking questions about Mael’s Lincoln Drive house after receiving an odor complaint from “a neighbor.” He declined to say who the complainant was — and hastened to add Mael’s neighbors on Willow Street also complain about animals being kept there, “but only amongst themselves; they don’t want to stir the pot and take things any further.”

Dool said 28 Lincoln Drive has generated three complaints that he can recall: One from Chapman, who also said he’d taken calls from one or more constituents; Schrader; and someone in the neighborhood who called the department and spoke with an office aide.


Amid SPCA talk, city to investigate cat allegations

By Thomas J. Prohaska
News Niagara Reporter

Updated: January 12, 2012, 7:59 AM
LOCKPORT—Corporation Counsel John J. Ottaviano told the Lockport Common Council on Wednesday that he has asked building inspectors to look into reports that a resident has an unusually large number of cats.
However, Ottaviano said state law specifically bars localities from regulating the number of cats a person may have in his or her home. Only the number of dogs may be limited.
Alderman Patrick W. Schrader, D- 4th Ward, said he checked out a report that a Willow Street woman has about 40 cats.
Schrader wanted to discuss the matter in executive session, but Mayor Michael W. Tucker said that would be inappropriate.
The issue came up during discussion of the troubles at the SPCA of Niagara, with which the city has a contract to house stray animals.
Ottaviano said the contract should be honored unless the current investigation of the SPCA discloses conduct that breaches the contract.
Tucker said he’s heard the probe is likely to last two weeks.
tprohaska@buffnews.com


Apparent animal shelter brings Lockport warning

News Staff Reports

Updated: January 13, 2012, 6:40 AM
LOCKPORT—Chief Building Inspector Jason Dool said Thursday a letter has been sent to a Willow Street woman, warning her that she is violating the city zoning ordinance by operating what appears to be an animal shelter in a house she owns at 28 Lincoln Drive.
Bobbie L. Mael, whose Eastern Niagara Animal Welfare Alliance sought unsuccessfully to outbid the SPCA of Niagara in 2009 for animal control contracts in the City and Town of Lockport, could run a shelter in the city, but not in a residential area, Dool said.
The Lincoln Drive house is in a single- family zone. Dool said an animal shelter would be permitted in an industrial zone or inaB-3 business zone. Mael did not return a call seeking comment.
Dool said Mael needs to show steady progress in reducing the number of dogs and cats in the house in order to stay out of court. Dool said he couldn’t tell through the window how many animals there were. Alderman Patrick W. Schrader said after Wednesday’s Common Council meeting that he thought there were about 40 cats.

Yep, that's our hometown hero, less than one month back in office and the power goes right back to his head. Now, what I find very interesting is the fact that neither the Common Council, nor the Mayor, nor the City Attorney have admonished Alderman Schrader for a clear violation of the law.
So, let's get this straight; it's not okay, although it is legal, to secretly record government meetings where there is no expectation of privacy; but it is okay, although not legal, to go on someone's porch and take pictures of the interior of their home without their knowledge or permission where there is definitely an expectation of privacy. Sure sounds like a Tucker 'Utopia' to me!  
Council president resigning to become city clerk

By Thomas J. Prohaska
NEWS NIAGARA REPORTER

Updated: January 3, 2012, 11:31 PM
LOCKPORT — Mayor Michael W. Tucker shuffled the deck Tuesday at City Hall, announcing that Common Council President Richelle J. Pasceri will resign that post to become city clerk, effective today.
Tucker appointed Alderman Joseph C. Kibler, R-at large, to serve as Council president and chose former Council President John Lombardi III to succeed Pasceri in the 1st Ward Council seat.
The mayor's moves surprised even those affected. He said Pasceri was shocked by his offer.
Lombardi said he was relieved to be called to City Hall after closing time Friday and told by the mayor that he wanted him to fill the 1st Ward vacancy. He said he was afraid Tucker would name him city clerk.
Asked if the change had been in the works for a long time, Pasceri answered, "Not so long that I'm scheduled for the next two weeks at Danny Sheehan's [where she is a waitress], and I don't have permanent child care lined up."
Tucker, a Republican, said Pasceri also will be his choice for budget director, the other portfolio held by veteran City Clerk Richard P. Mullaney. He retired Friday after 30 years as budget chief and 26 years as clerk.
However, Mullaney has agreed to a $12,000 consulting contract for this year. "Dick's going to be the budget guy as long as he's here," Tucker said.
The mayor said Pasceri won't be paid extra for budget duties this year; she will receive the $55,000 included in the 2012 budget for the clerk's job.
Tucker's original plan was to have Personnel Officer Mary Pat Holz double as clerk, but Corporation Counsel John J. Ottaviano ruled that state regulations forbade extra employment for Holz because she is in charge of civil service in the city and another assignment would create a conflict of interest.
Pasceri served four years on the Council, the last two as president.
With 10 years on the Council, Kibler, 78, a retired banking executive, also has plenty of budgetary background.
"Joe's the longest-serving alderman. He's been Finance [Committee] chairman for eight years, although I took him off Finance [for 2012] and gave it to [5th Ward Alderman] Ken Genewick because his plate was too full," Tucker said.
Kibler said he wasn't reluctant to take over as Council president. "I've got a good Council, with Lombardi, [Patrick W.] Schrader and Genewick coming back. And Anne McCaffrey and Kitty Fogle [the Council newcomers] are good people," Kibler said.
All the aldermen are Republicans except for Schrader, a Democrat.
Lombardi, 54, served two stints as 5th Ward alderman, totaling eight years, including six years as Council president. His home was moved into the 1st Ward in last year's city redistricting.
He said he will run this fall for election to an unexpired one-year term in his new ward.
Besides Genewick, Tucker named the other committee chairmen. Schrader will head two committees: Youth, and Water and Sewer. Kibler also has two chairmanships: Highways and Parks, and Public Health and Safety. Lombardi will head the Personnel Committee.
tprohaska@buffnews.com

This article printed in the Buffalo News should be our first warning that "politics as usual" is alive and well in Lockport and that Tucker learned nothing from November's election results.