By Nick Mattera
Niagara Gazette
LEWISTON —
After flip-flopping on the approval of a donation from a Chemical Waste Management-sponsored fundraiser last month, an attempt by members of the Lewiston-Porter school board to again become the beneficiary of money flopped Tuesday night by a 4-3 vote.
The school district was selected by CWM in May as one of a number of local municipalities, community groups or nonprofit organizations to potentially receive funding from a national fundraising golf tournament being held at the Niagara Falls Country Club. At a May 24 school board meeting the majority of the board approved a resolution to accept the funding, however, in the board changed its mind in June after the board consulted with an outside attorney and local advocacy groups.
On Tuesday, the board reintroduced the resolution, but with some changes.
Board member Ed Waller asked for the donation to be made payable to the Lewiston-Porter Elementary Parent Teachers Association and Lewiston-Porter Alumni Association, as both entities are affiliated with the school, but serve as separate nonprofit entities.
Waller, along with board members Robert Weller and newly elected board member Jerry Andres voted in favor of accepting the donation, while board members Wendy Swearingen, April Fideli, newly elected board member Jodee Riordan and Jim Sperduti voted the measure down.
Sperduti, the newly appointed board president, originally voted in May to accept the donation but changed his vote Tuesday.
Fideli and Swearingen, who are both officials with the anti-CWM group Residents For Responsible Government have argued CWM is attempting to prove its facility is in the best interest of the public through these types of charitable donations. With Lew-Port as a key stakeholder sitting just 1 mile from the Balmer Road hazardous waste landfill, they say it is irresponsible of the board to approve the resolution.
“I would like to say that we have already taken the position several times and its just very unfortunate that people just keep getting their facts mixed up ... and you still try to come here and say things that are untrue and speak about things that you don’t understand and you don’t know about,” Fideli said to Waller and Weller prior to a vote on the issue. “This will have a huge impact if our name is on it period. There’s absolutely no reason that the PTA and the alumni association can’t go ask for CWM funds (on their own).”
CWM’s application for expansion is currently on hold because state regulators have not established a set of guidelines for the disposal of toxic waste in New York among other reasons. Fideli suggests the DEC uses a weighting process when approving the application for expansion, which is the sole reason behind the donation from CWM. The 710-acre site actively operates in a 47-acre landfill known a RMU-1 and is seeking to expand to a landfill known as RMU-2.
Waller said a decision by Lew-Port would have little impact on the approval made by policy makers in Albany.
“We have an opportunity here to bring some money into the district for a couple of organizations that would probably like the money,” said Waller prior to the vote. “I took the stand against expansion, but I also know this decision will have little to no meaning on any expansion.”
PTA President Betty VandenBosch told the board she never requested the school board seek the donation for her organization but did indicate the PTA has told CWM representatives they are interested in any form of funding available.
CWM spokeswoman Lori Caso said she expects close to $200,000 to be available to a number o local community groups across Niagara County. It is still unclear how much each group would receive, but at a similar fundraising tournament held last year in Southern Florida organizations such as the YMCA received $70,000.
In other meeting related business, the board appointed Jim Sperduti to be the president of the school board and Wendy Swearingen to be vice-president.
