<!--Mark Scheer--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Mark Scheer</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:mark.scheer@niagara-gazette.com">mark.scheer@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>
City Councilman Sam Fruscione issued a letter this week recommending the city take up the cause of homeowners adversely impacted by new federal floodplain maps.
Elected officials in neighboring communities —including the Niagara County Legislature just this week — have gone on record in support of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer’s bid for a thorough review of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s new maps.
Fruscione said this week he’s received several telephone calls on the issue from concerned city residents. Inclusion on the floodplain maps could cost typical homeowners as much as $1,000 in additional insurance money per year.
Fruscione said he’s recommending the council ask Mayor Paul Dyster to get more involved in the situation.
“We will be gathering the information, speaking with FEMA and requesting a complete review of how FEMA’s flood plain maps are impacting our residents,” he said.
Parkway chatter
Local historian and Town of Niagara resident Paul Gromosiak asked city council members on Monday if they were approached by Lewiston Legislator John Ceretto about his plans to establish a trolley system for the county’s west end.
Council members indicated they were not invited by Ceretto to participate in a study on the proposed trolley project, which struck Gromosiak as odd considering Ceretto told him during a recent meeting that all city officials were consulted for their input.
Gromosiak expressed concern about a recent press release issued by Ceretto that called for open dialogue on the parkway issue, but singled out the “extreme” agenda of some parkway removal advocates as a barrier to finding a workable solution to the roadway controversy.
Vincent Mameli, a 77th Street resident and parkway removal advocate, said he’s perturbed by a lot of the talk coming out of Lewiston as well.
Ceretto submitted a resolution calling on the county Legislature to support maintaining the parkway as is. He pulled the measure from consideration this week because it was determined that his involvement in the issue conflicts with his position as a state parks employee.
Mameli said Niagara Falls shouldn’t have to suffer because Ceretto wants a fast track from his house in Lewiston to his job at Niagara Falls State Park.
“These people in Lewiston, they don’t respect us,” he said. “They won’t drive down our city streets.”
‘Painful perception’
Former City Administrator and current NAACP and Niagara Falls Human Rights Commission Chairman Bill Bradberry addressed the council to raise concerns about a “painful perception” among some members of the citizenry that not everyone is being treated equally in Niagara Falls.
Bradberry said both the NAACP and the Human Rights Commission are “deeply concerned” about issues of discrimination in the community. He cited the recent controversy over the development of a new park for the city’s South End as one example of inequality within the city’s borders.
Bradberry recommended the council consider allocating some funds to hire a volunteer coordinator and staff to oversee a summer recreational program to make sure it is adequately meeting the needs of the city’s youth. He also recommended the city hire a full-time diversity coordinator to keep track of other decisions impacting individuals of all backgrounds.
“If we had somebody here at City Hall or somewhere in the city who could analyze and determine what the impact would be of some of the decisions that we make on women, on minorities, on children, on the elderly, maybe we wouldn’t make some of the decisions that we make,” he said.
