Staff Reports
On the heels of Kessel’s visit to Niagara Falls, state Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, jabbed NYPA again for what he claims is its failure to pay sufficient attention to Niagara County.
In a Thursday press release, Maziarz said he sent a letter to Kessel calling on NYPA to hold public hearings in Niagara and St. Lawrence counties regarding the proposed grant of 15 megawatts of low-cost power to Brookhaven Labs, Long Island. A public hearing was held in Brookhaven, Maziarz noted, but none are scheduled in the host communities of the Niagara and Massena stations that are generating the power.
“Our upstate communities should have the chance to speak up when our locally generated hydropower is being sent to Long Island. We’re sure that the public input (NYPA) would receive would be vastly different than the comments made in Brookhaven,” Maziarz said.
The missive follows one last week in which Maziarz criticized Gov. David Paterson’s proposal to create a $25 million Small Business Revolving Loan fund using NYPA funds. He noted a lack of preference for Niagara region businesses and suggested it’s further proof NYPA isn’t sufficiently “accountable” to Niagara County.
Kessel declined to say Thursday whether he thinks the criticisms are fair, nor would he say there should or should not be local public hearings on the Brookhaven power award.
Making Niagara Falls a stop in NYPA’s statewide tour to announce the solar initiative “I think, says it all,” Kessel said. “We’ve done more in Niagara County than any other leadership in (state) history.”
Kessel added he’s paid nearly 30 visits to the county since he became NYPA’s chief executive in late 2008.
“We’re paying a tremendous amount of attention to Niagara County and will continue to do so,” he said.
