NIAGARA FALLS —
By next summer, the deteriorating glassed-enclosed walkway along Old Falls Street will be gone and a variety of vendors will be open for business.
Or at least that’s the hope of city lawmakers, who have set aside $200,000 to demolish the walkway and pave the way for an outside developer to construct storefronts and begin lining up tenants.
Fran Iusi, director of the city’s NFC Development Corp., provided an update for councilmembers during Monday’s meeting, saying an engineering study is needed to complete demolition of the walkway. That study, and a subsequent request for proposals for the demolishing, should take up to 30 days to complete.
“Right now, the estimate is we can get storefronts there by next spring,” Iusi said.
The glass-enclosed walkway, located along Old Falls Street between Third and First streets, has been an eyesore and potential safety hazard for several years. Ideally, city officials would like to see a developer turn the space into a line of food and souvenir vendors. However, the details of the project have not been finalized and would not be subject to the city’s approval since the only money the city is contributing is for the demolition.
“We don’t have much say at all,” said Councilman Charles Walker, adding the outside developer can set the operation standards and leasing prices. “That really concerns me.”
Councilwoman Kristen Grandinetti agreed, saying she would prefer the city had input into the type of vendors brought in. Mayor Paul Dyster said the city would have some involvement in the design element for the storefronts’ exterior and that the developer would be working with USA Niagara Development Corp. to establish the project.
“Our goal is for that to be the best possible venue for them so they can get high-quality vendors there,” Dyster said.
Councilmembers also expressed concern over the lack of a formal agreement in place ensuring the storefronts would be completed in a timely manner once the walkway is demolished.
“We don’t want to get snookered, where we tear down the walkway and then there is no project,” Dyster said.
Iusi said right now there’s only a verbal agreement to have the storefronts completed by 2012.
The council approved a resolution to spend $25,500 to cover the costs associated with completing an engineering study in preparation for the demolition work. That brings the total amount spent on the project to $60,500.
“We’ve got to keep moving forward on this or else we’re just wasting money all day long,” Council Chairman Samuel Fruscione said.
In other action, the council:
• Approved allocating $150,000 to support the 2012 Hard Rock Concert series. As per a “phasing out plan” proposed by Fruscione earlier this month, the contribution was reduced by 20 percent and will continue to be reduced by that percentage over the next five years until all city contributions have been eliminated.
• Approved an agreement with Bergmann Associates, Inc. to inventory all parks and open spaces, make recommendations for improvement where necessary and develop a trail linking the parks to each other and the waterfront, including design and community outreach. The contract will pay Bergmann Associates $265,000. The city will use a 2008 New York State Environmental Protection Fund grant, Power Authority greenway funding and leftover money from its 2007 designated special project fund balance to cover the costs. The inventory will include input from the community.
• Set new golf rates and parks department fees for both residents and non-residents. Under the change, a season pass at the Hyde Park Golf Course will increase from $400 to $425 for residents and $500 to $550 for non residents. There are also modest increases to individual play, cart use, locker rental, driving range and renting out various city-run parks and pavilions.
• Approved the new homestead and non-homestead tax proportions. Homestead will be responsible for 55.1 percent of the levy and non-homestead will cover the remaining 44.9 percent. The new proportions represents a 20 percent shift to the homestead.
• Extended the contract with Morton Abramowitz to provide legal consulting services for the city council during the upcoming year. Abramowitz with be paid $848 a month.
Local News
Old Falls Street walkway work outlined to council
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