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Thread: 2012 Lackawanna City Council Agendas/Business

  1. #61
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    Quote Originally Posted by andreahaxton View Post
    " Our partners at the New York State Department of Transportation have asked us to post information on the proper use of pedestrian crossing signals/crosswalks.

    Every year, approximately 14,000 people are killed or injured while crossing a street or highway. "

    What is the price of 1 life......exactly, priceless!

    Enough bureaucracy already! Put in the crosswalk and a caution light....if their relatives lived there I bet it would be in and done with! Study-study-study.....please! The Cornell Cooperative Extension and NYS Traffic and Safety Board will help implement the optimal precautionary system if they ask!
    Think outside the box Lackawanna!
    It broke my heart to see all the seniors coming out to Monday's Council mtg. to repeatedly beg them for their protection and safety! If it was an election year the crosswalk would have been down months ago!
    Is that considered the 3rd ward? Maybe it can be an election issue?

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    Quote Originally Posted by jenrose66 View Post
    Is that considered the 3rd ward? Maybe it can be an election issue?
    The election promised issues need to be eliminated, they don't follow through on them anyways. The crosswalk is a common sense safety issue that needs to be addressed before someone get hurts regardless if they are residents or just visitors. They deserve it. There is a blind spot coming around the back of that cut through towards Ridge Road just before the entrance. They also need to put in speed bumps.

  3. #63
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    Quote Originally Posted by getalife123 View Post
    The election promised issues need to be eliminated, they don't follow through on them anyways. The crosswalk is a common sense safety issue that needs to be addressed before someone get hurts regardless if they are residents or just visitors. They deserve it. There is a blind spot coming around the back of that cut through towards Ridge Road just before the entrance. They also need to put in speed bumps.
    Speed bumps are actually a great idea. Really, everything got bad when they took down the light. At least with the light, when it was red that gave Melroy a little bit of a break. I cut down Melroy the other day and I consider myself a safe driver and as I made the left down Melroy from Ridge I remarked to my mom, how it felt like I took the turn a little fast. Plus at certain times the sun can make it hard to see people crossing the street.

    I in no way meant to imply that the only way the cross walk should only be put in as an election issue, I was simply stating that it possibly could be used as one since it's technically in an election ward. Of course it should be put in regardless. It should have been put in years ago.

  4. #64
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    Post Serious Stuff

    I tried for speed bumps and reduced speed zone 20 years ago in Beth Park because 30 mph is ridiculous........
    I was told it is NYS Traffic and Safety who sets the speed limit here and that speed bumps are illegal!

    My son's neighborhood in Florida has them.....trailer parks......shopping plazas. Come on Lackawanna.
    Work with the people, please.

  5. #65
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    Post

    AGENDA
    COUNCIL MEETING
    TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

    www.lackawannany.gov
    Meetng called to order/Pledge of Allegiance
    NB: Meetng being recorded.
    Roll Call: Council: Noman, Darch, Lewis, Pirowski
    Dept Heads: Law, Pub. Works, Pub. Safety, Rec., Develop.
    Hearing from Citzens:
    Approval of Minutes: of regular meetng of August 13, 2012
    Departmental Reports:
    1. City Compt. – A/P Check Listng #1, Aug. 9, 2012
    2. City Compt. – A/P Check Listng #2 Aug. 21, 2012
    Communicatons from Department/Division Heads:
    3. City Comptroller requests Council approval for Bond Ordinance for Playground Equipment,
    Snow Plow Truck and Demoli ton of Buildings.

    4. City Atorney-requests Council approve the Resoluton regarding the agreement between
    the City and the Research Foundaton of the State University of New York.
    5. Director of Public Safety requests Council approve ordinance to amend budget of Fire Dept
    for newly appointed re fgfhters.
    6. Director of Public Safety- request Council award contract to low bidder- Empire Emergency
    Apparatus for new pumper in Fire Dept.
    Miscellaneous
    Business License- LA Laundry- 990 Ridge Road
    Resolutons
    1. Resoluton authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement between the City and the Research
    Foundaton
    Ordinances
    1. An Ordinance authorizing the issuance of $975,000 Bonds to pay the cost of various capital items
    for the City of Lackawanna

    2. An Ordinance amending the budget to allow for funding for new frefghter positons.
    Tabled Items:
    Adjournment
    ************************************************** *************************
    Nice job jenrose and whomever else is responsible for this great feat!

  6. #66
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    Talking We were told "change" has now begun in LA.

    All items to be placed on the agenda must be received and time stamped in the City Clerk's office
    before noon on the Wednesday preceeding the meeting.
    COUNCIL MEETING DATES FOR 2012
    Tuesday, January 9 (reorganization & regular meeting)
    Tuesday, January 17 Monday, July 9
    Monday, February 6 Monday, August 13
    Tuesday, February 21 Tuesday, September 4
    Monday, March 5 Monday, September 17 th
    Monday, March 19 Monday, October 1
    Monday, April 2 Monday, October 15
    Monday, April 16 Monday, November 5
    Monday, May 7 Monday, November 19
    Monday, May 21 Monday, December 3
    Monday, June 4 Monday, December 17

    No agenda on web again for Monday's Public Council meeting................
    Which probably means something big brewing................because the bugs are not worked out yet.
    If someone was ill...I apologize, but someone else should be trained by now to do the City web posting for public view.

  7. #67
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    Post Mystery solved.........


    Updated: 09/18/2012, 12:20 AM


    Lackawanna firefighters sound off on overtime at City Council meeting
    Protest policy that closed ?understaffed station
    BY: Jay Tokasz

    Lackawanna firefighters sounded the alarm Monday on a recent move by city officials to limit overtime expenses by temporarily shutting down one of the city's fire stations.

    More than a dozen firefighters showed up in City Hall to protest the closure of the South Park station Sept. 6, when Mayor Geoffrey M. Szymanski instituted a policy limiting the call-in of off-duty firefighters on overtime pay to only instances in which regularly scheduled staffing levels fell below seven firefighters.

    With just seven firefighters reporting, the city decided to shut down the station, because there wasn't enough staff available to man all of the trucks.

    Not calling in more firefighters that day put the city in a "precarious position as far as public safety," said Capt. Tom Mendez.

    Szymanski and Public Safety Director Dana J. Britton ordered the temporary closure as a way to rein in spiraling overtime costs.

    In the first month of its 2012-13 fiscal year, the city spent $60,104 - or 20 percent of the amount allotted in the budget for the entire year - on firefighter overtime. The city paid out 856 hours of time-and-a-half pay in a recent two-week pay period.

    But firefighters said they were being unfairly scapegoated for the large overtime tab, which they said is caused primarily by chronic understaffing in the department.

    Firefighters calling in sick isn't the reason for the overtime, they maintained.

    The department operates with three platoons of 10 firefighters and one platoon of nine firefighters, said Fire Chief Ralph J. Galanti. The platoons rotate with a schedule of 24 hours on, followed by 72 hours off.
    But with four firefighters out with injuries, those platoons already are depleted.

    Firefighters pointed out that August is the prime vacation time, and a state-mandated training program sent one officer to New York City for more than a month.

    Eight-five percent of the overtime paid in the department is directly related to staffing, to firefighters being out injured and to ongoing training programs, said Mendez.

    City officials changed course last week, going back to the old policy that allows for overtime call-ins when staffing dips below nine firefighters. But the move hasn't entirely diffused the anger of firefighters, who are in the third year of working without a new contract with the city.

    Lackawanna is due to get five new firefighters, who are now in training. Four of those posts are being funded for two years with a federal grant from the Department of Homeland Security. The fifth firefighter will replace a recently retired firefighter.

    The additional firefighters will cut down on overtime. ?But next spring might be the earliest that those savings ?will be realized, because the new firefighters will be in training for the next several months.

    On Monday, the council voted unanimously to amend the budget to add another two firefighters.

    Those firefighters won't be able to enroll in a fire academy until later - forestalling their ability to man the fire trucks until well into 2013.

    But Galanti said he should be able to use the two new hires immediately as dispatchers in the department's alarm room, freeing up veteran firefighters for the trucks.

    Also Monday, the council voted 4-0 to appoint Joseph Jerge as 3rd Ward councilman through the end of 2012, filling a vacancy created in July when Francis J. Kulczyk died.

    Jerge, who owns Mulberry Cafe, a popular Italian restaurant in the city's Bethlehem Park neighborhood, said it was important to have a business owner's perspective on the council.

    He also pledged to make city government proactive, rather than reactive, to issues.

    Jerge was sworn in immediately after the meeting and will take the council seat at the next meeting Oct. 1.
    email: ?jtokasz@buffnews.com

  8. #68
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    Quote Originally Posted by andreahaxton View Post

    Updated: 09/18/2012, 12:20 AM


    Lackawanna firefighters sound off on overtime at City Council meeting
    Protest policy that closed ?understaffed station
    BY: Jay Tokasz
    Also Monday, the council voted 4-0 to appoint Joseph Jerge as 3rd Ward councilman through the end of 2012, filling a vacancy created in July when Francis J. Kulczyk died.

    Jerge, who owns Mulberry Cafe, a popular Italian restaurant in the city's Bethlehem Park neighborhood, said it was important to have a business owner's perspective on the council.

    He also pledged to make city government proactive, rather than reactive, to issues.

    Jerge was sworn in immediately after the meeting and will take the council seat at the next meeting Oct. 1.
    email: ?jtokasz@buffnews.com

    Off Main Street

    September 22, 2012
    Buffalo News
    The offbeat side of the news:

    We don't know if Joe Jerge has a recipe to solve Lackawanna's problems, but the chef and owner of the popular Mulberry Café restaurant is taking a stab at it by joining the City Council.

    Jerge was appointed unanimously Sept. 17 to fill the vacant 3rd Ward seat.

    After the meeting, he went into the office of City Clerk Jacqueline A. Caferro for his swearing-in. Caferro couldn't resist adding a tasty postscript to Jerge's oath: "And free manicotti for everyone!"

    We didn't hear Jerge second this motion, so we guess the manicotti won't be on the house on our next visit.

    Written by Stephen T. Watson with contributions from T.J. Pignataro and Jay Tokasz.
    email: offmain@buffnews.com

  9. #69
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    Post Whoa........

    Animal issues are addressed by Lackawanna Council

    Published: 10/2/2012, 01:32 AM

    Updated: 10/2/2012, 01:32 AM

    Animal issues are addressed by Lackawanna Council

    BY: Jay Tokasz


    Cats, rabbits, chickens, rats - name the animal and there's a good chance it was part of the "ark" of discussion at Monday evening's Lackawanna City Council meeting.

    The Council passed two ordinances relating to animals, tabled a third ordinance and heard from a West Seneca man expressing concerns that the Lackawanna Halal Market on Ridge Road was selling injured rabbits and chickens.

    And all of that was merely a precursor to the lengthiest discussion of the meeting - the multitude of rats roaming through the city.

    City officials are considering a plan to implement a garbage tote system similar to those in Buffalo and Cheektowaga, but in the meantime, the rats have been running roughshod across the city, partly because of garbage left uncovered at the curb.

    "We've got to get cooperation from our residents," said Ralph D. Miranda, the city's economic-development director, urging residents to keep a lid on garbage and help choke off a vital food supply for rats.

    Third Ward Councilman Joseph L. Jerge also encouraged business owners to do a better job of attending to their trash.

    "If you've seen rats, it's in places where the trash isn't covered," he said. "It is citywide. Every deli owner and every business - and every homeowner, for that matter - should be held to the same standard."

    The issue surfaced when resident Mohammed Albannah pointed out that some deli owners were having a difficult time affording a city requirement for enclosed Dumpsters. City sanitation workers, he said, have refused for the last two weeks to pick up refuse at some of the delis.

    "Some small stores can't even put a Dumpster next to their stores because there's no room," said Albannah, who also inquired about the status of the proposed totes.

    The Council unanimously passed an ordinance designed to choke off another source of food for rats and other rodents. It prohibits the use of bird-feeders, wildlife-feeders and outdoor pet food bowls. It also forbids the feeding of nondomestic animals, including birds, deer, rabbits, squirrels and stray cats.

    Dogs were not ignored during the evening's discussion, either. The Council voted unanimously to increase city penalties for people who don't pick up after their dogs. The offense is now punishable with a fine of $100 to $250 and up to 15 days in jail.

    Council members voted to further study a measure that would mandate that all domestic cats wear identifying collars and tags or risk being seized.

    West Seneca resident Stephen Patronik brought up the issue of rabbits and chickens at the Lackawanna Halal Market, which will slaughter the animals on site according to Islamic ritual.

    Patronik told the Council that he purchased a rabbit at the market that had a broken leg and back, and later learned that selling an injured animal is against the law.

    He said he bought the rabbit for $20 because he pitied it. He took the rabbit to a veterinarian, who put it to sleep.

    Patronik also said the market's slaughterhouse was not hygienic, and he urged Council members and other city residents to sign a petition asking for a county or state investigation.


    email: jtokasz@buffnews.com

  10. #70
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    Post Historically.......here we go again!

    Just my opinion......

    Veryyyyy disappointed and sick of the "poli-tricks" in this City!
    Transparency in Lackawanna .........HA! I bet some can't even spell it! ( No offense to anyone, but if the shoe fits---WEAR IT! After, of course, you get it out of ...........! YES, butt!)

    And the LACK of a decent, clean, safe, upscale, modern, vibrant City on the move! BIG$$$$$$ has poured in........look around you folks, at "the fruits of their labors"!!!!!
    I mean, Everyone........... some employees, AND, DEPARTMENT HEADS too!
    Follow the bouncing-ball.........shut-up, so you can pass go at the next cocktail party fake BS, in order to keep your job or get your kid one!
    LOTS of $$$$$BIG paychecks off the loins of LA, LOTS!
    And Citizens eating baloney sandwiches to scrape up tax bill money .........!

    Shame on them......and shame on the ones who let them get away with giving us lip service....... NOTHING ever changes in this city but the potholes!

    I tried....but I now fully realize that the voters must be happy with the status quo. Or more people would be attending meetings to tell it like it is.

    Just a lesson to learn, from a WISE old man sitting in his rocking chair.......about life in general:
    Instead of walking away from a Senior or someone you have a low opinion of................Try to change your attitude, and re-think it. BECAUSE.....................You, already know what YOU know, right?
    But......Just maybe......if you take the time to LISTEN to them, even if you think you have heard it all before, and have already formed your opinion of what they are trying to tell you,
    STOP and listen ..........YOU might just learn something new! In order to make, a sincere effort to enhance.....what YOU, already know!
    Yes, everyone has to rush home, BUT, If more people tried this approach........Lackawanna might start to change for posterity's sake..... the negative halo hovering over our once great City.......might finally dissipate one day.

    Want kind of City will be here in the next 5 years or sooner?

    Martin Road ....HA! Over $2mil of tax money tied up in there and it has sat with only ONE house built in OVER 2 years!
    HA! And no money to fix the flagged bridges or the condemned City Hall?! How about for the money for the lawsuits, God forbid a tragedy strikes if the orange crate's rotted stucture falls on a citizen.

    This City is so reactive instead of proactive.........blaming everyone else for the problems........what a joke!
    A very sad joke.

    P.S.
    Accountability.......probably can't even pronounce that one!
    Last edited by andreahaxton; November 20th, 2012 at 02:13 PM.

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    Don't give up Andrea, that's not who you are. You stated "I tried....but I now fully realize that the voters must be happy with the status quo. Or more people would be attending meetings to tell it like it is."
    I don't think that is it at all. We just have to find a way to reach voters to make them realize that the way to change things is to sit in on these council meetings, school board meetings, etc. A lot of people don't even think about those meetings, its not even in their mind, but we need to raise awareness about attending those. You are a passionate and good-hearted person, don't give up on this

  12. #72
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    Cool He Who Laughs Last.....Lasts!

    Quote Originally Posted by highestpropertytaxes View Post
    Don't give up Andrea, that's not who you are. You stated "I tried....but I now fully realize that the voters must be happy with the status quo. Or more people would be attending meetings to tell it like it is."
    I don't think that is it at all. We just have to find a way to reach voters to make them realize that the way to change things is to sit in on these council meetings, school board meetings, etc. A lot of people don't even think about those meetings, its not even in their mind, but we need to raise awareness about attending those. You are a passionate and good-hearted person, don't give up on this

    OMG!
    Boy did I need that!
    Thank You.

    Someone recently up and walked away from a citizen who was trying to give them advice and it was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I am sick of them thinking that the people do not matter!
    I have not given up hope....even though they would love me to, wouldn't they?! No, God gave me this deep spirit and the harder I try to look the other way, I can't! I am just going to change technique, possibly delivery of application, but NEVER destination. Since I can remember, I have not taken my eyes off the goal of a better, cleaner Lackawanna! WE deserve it.

    No, I am going to just .....well, we will see.
    Thanks again! I needed that encouragement because I needed to know there are still people like you out there, "who get-it" .

    Happy Thanksgiving!

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    great to hear Andrea, that's what makes this country great. Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

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    This was on the Buffalo News Website this morning:

    The mayor of Lackawanna has made good on his threat to sue City Council members over their slashing of the public works commissioner’s salary.

    In a complaint filed last week in State Supreme Court, Mayor Geoffrey M. Szymanski accused the Council of usurping his exclusive powers as mayor to hire and fire department heads when members voted in June to cut the annual salary of Public Works Commissioner Thomas N. Love to $10,000.

    Love, 59, resigned in mid-November after 38 years as a city employee.

    “The actions taken by the Council to force Mr. Love to resign his post as commissioner of public works are completely contrary to the City Charter and City Code and contrary to the City Code provisions pertaining to the hiring, firing and supervision of department heads,” the complaint states.

    Szymanski asked the court to overturn the salary reduction and declare that he has the exclusive right under the city’s charter and code to allow Love to remain in his post at a salary of $30,000 – the amount Love was receiving prior to the Council’s budget change.

    Szymanski hired the Bouvier Partnership law firm to represent his administration in the legal action.

    Although appointed by the mayor, City Attorney Norman A. LeBlanc Jr. regularly attends City Council meetings and works closely with members of the Council.

    “He felt that there was a conflict,” Szymanski said of LeBlanc.

    Szymanski said he was forced to pursue legal action “to fight for the integrity of the administration.”

    He declined to comment further.

    Aside from acknowledging that he was served with court papers in the case, Council President Henry R. Pirowski also declined to comment. The four other members of the Council, Abdulsalam Noman, Rebecca Darch, Joseph Jerge and Keith E. Lewis, also were named in the complaint.

    The Council has scheduled a special meeting for 6 p.m. Thursday.

    In an interview prior to the mayor’s court filing, Pirowski stated that a lawsuit over the salary reduction would be frivolous and unsuccessful.

    Szymanski appointed Tony DeSantis as temporary commissioner of public works for 10 days.

    DeSantis, a Lackawanna public works employee for 26 years, has been a foreman for the past two years. DeSantis retains his union rank and pay.

  15. #75
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    interesting. I wonder what the true motivations on both sides are

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