By Aaron Besecker
LEWISTON — A town board member raised personal concerns about working with other members of the Niagara Power Coalition during a board meeting Monday night.
Councilman Sean Edwards pointed to what he believes will be difficulties in satisfying the needs of each of the seven coalition members all in one deal.
“I think we have to go forth and see our needs,” said Edwards, who also said his comments were not meant to be adversarial towards other coalition members.
The coalition members are devising a plan to organize and manage more than 25 megawatts of low-cost power set to arrive in August 2007 from the New York Power Authority under terms of a settlement signed in June.
Edwards met with an official at the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities who Edwards said told him of the complexities Jamestown faced when establishing its own managerial entity, known as municipal distribution agency.
Edwards acknowledged that Jamestown’s needs in setting up an MDA are very different from Lewiston’s.
He wants town officials to set up meetings with NYPA officials, officials from National Grid as well as a power industry expert, Edwards said.
Supervisor Fred Newlin, Lewiston’s chief representative to the coalition, said the town is still in the process of contacting law firms who may serve as a consultant to the town in the MDA process.
“The town will certainly be capable of going its own way,” Newlin said.
In other town matters:
n Officials are considering creating a new position which would be charged with establishing a disaster preparedness plan for the town.
It behooves the town to develop a plan and appoint a disaster preparedness coordinator, or someone that coordinates emergency management training for all town department heads and workers, Newlin said.
Upper Mountain Volunteer Fire Co. Assistant Chief Jonathan Schultz is one of the candidates being considered for the job, town officials said.
