National Fuel’s plan to close a customer service center on Packard Road is not sitting well with officials and residents in the City of Niagara Falls.

Members of the city council on Monday supported a resolution opposing the proposed closure of the gas company’s customer assistance center at 6250 Packard Road. National Fuel unveiled plans earlier this month to shut the facility down on Dec. 31 as part of a consolidation of its local operations. The move would result in all accounts currently being handled at the Falls office to be serviced at the next closest customer center at 455 Main St. in the City of Buffalo.

City lawmakers said such a move would represent a “hardship” for residents in the city and the neighboring Town of Niagara.

“On the City Council there’s a lot of things we can’t do and some things we can do,” councilman Charles Walker told residents who attended Monday’s council meeting. “One thing we can do is support the community on issues such as this. This resolution is something we are doing but the voice that really needs to be heard is your voice, the community’s voice.”

Several residents addressed the matter during the public speaking portion of the meeting and encouraged the council to do whatever they could to prevent the center from shutting down.

Ontario Avenue resident Gloria Dolson argued the loss of the facility would be particularly harmful to the community’s elderly population.

“Most of them can’t get about,” Dolson said. “It’s terrible when you call some place and you have to push buttons and wait.”

The Rev. Fred Chambers of Fourth Street agreed, adding that many elderly residents find it difficult to get answers to their questions over the telephone and would be inconvenienced even more if they had to drive to Buffalo for personal service.

“We cannot put up with that,” he said.

Lewiston Road resident Leonard Smith said he’s visited the Packard Road center many times and said dealing with someone one-to-one cannot be compared to dealing with a telephone answering system at an office miles and miles away.

“We need National Fuel to be here in this community to serve,” Smith said. “Phone calls doesn’t hack it. We need a person sitting there we can talk to.”

National Fuel announced the closure plan on Nov. 4, saying the decision was in keeping with the company’s mission to “reduce costs while maintaining a high standard of reliable and quality customer service.” The company has said that employees who currently work at the Packard Road site would be offered jobs at other locations within the area. In its release announcing the move, National Fuel said it would not affect regular billing or meter-reading activities and customers accustomed to paying their bills at the Falls center could still do so by paying online, enrolling in the company’s automatic withdrawal direct payment plan, pay by mail or by visiting other Western Union or MoneyGram locations were gas bill payments are accepted.

Council Chairman Chris Robins said as far as the council is concerned those options are not acceptable.

“There are a lot of people who can’t pay by computer or by phone,” he said.

Robins said Mayor Paul Dyster has agreed to work with the council in an effort to schedule a meeting on the issue with representatives from National Fuel. Robins said the mayor and the council also intend to solicit support from county and state lawmakers.

In other matters, the council:

n Agreed to table a request from Dyster to remove stipends in the amount of $1,200 from the chief plumbing inspector George Amendola and electrical inspector Peter Butry. Both men were placed on administrative leave following an FBI investigation into the Inspections Department. They are to receive the stipends for attending various meetings, including the Board of Plumbing and Electrical Board. Council members argued the dollar figure included in the resolution was too high as it reflects the amount owed to both men for an entire year of attending meetings and the city was now in a position where it could only remove the stipends for December.

n Voted to table a request from the city’s Historic Preservation Commission for an historic landmark designation at the Evelyn Apartments, 533 10th St. The structure was built in 1916 and designed by architects Kirkpatrick and Canon. The historic designation was requested by the current owner, 96-year-old Evelyn Pullo.