|
|
|
Council Chambers Tonawanda, New York December 15, 2009
A Regular Meeting of the Common Council
Present: Council President Zeisz Present Councilmembers: Perkins, Waterhouse, Kossow, Davis
Pledge of Allegiance led by Council President Zeisz
Prayer led by Council President Zeisz
BID OPENING: Entrance Rehabilitation for Tonawanda Public Library November 19, 2009 10:00 AM
MGR Constructors, Inc. PO Box 61 Bowmansville, NY 14026 Total Bid Price: $48,540.00 Bid Bond and Non-Collusive Bidding Certificate accompanied bid
Erie Contracting 188 Erie Street Lancaster, NY 14086 Total Bid Price: $49,200.00 Bid Bond and Non-Collusive Bidding Certificate accompanied bid
Miller Enterprises, Inc. 12 Newfield Street Buffalo, NY 14207 Total Bid Price: $55,700.00 Bid Bond and Non-Collusive Bidding Certificate accompanied bid
DW Development 701 Winspear Road Elma, NY 14059 Total Bid Price: $59,700.00 Bid Bond and Non-Collusive Bidding Certificate accompanied bid
Winter GroundBreaKing 4565 Wilson Drive Hamburg, NY 14075 Total Bid Price: $72,900.00 Bid Bond and Non-Collusive Bidding Certificate accompanied bid
Cloverbank Construction, Inc. 3737 Lakeshore road Blasdell, NY 14219 Total Bid Price: $74,000.00 Bid Bond and Non-Collusive Bidding Certificate accompanied bid
Ledge Creek Development, Inc. 10100 County Road Clarence Center, NY 14032 Total Bid Price: $78,000.00 Bid Bond and Non-Collusive Bidding Certificate accompanied bid Referred to the Committee of the Whole Ordered Filed
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR
A letter from Don Holler dated November 29, 2009 regarding a possible New Skate Park in Ives Park complex in memory of his son, Greg Holler.
A letter from Time Warner Cable dated November 30, 2009 regarding developments affecting Time Warner Cable subscriber in Tonawanda.
A letter from Tonawanda Superintendent of Schools Whitney K. Vantine regarding a report from its Task Force regarding the former Highland Elementary School.
A letter to Rev. Uebler dated December 7, 2009 thanking him for the use of their church vestibule on December 4 for distributing hot chocolate and cookies.
A letter to New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation dated December 7, 2009 regarding the Gateway Harbor Pump-Out 2009 O&M CVAP Grant 2009.
A letter to Dale Peter, 161 Elmwood Park W. dated December 7, 2009 appointing him to the Civil Service Commission, term to expire on May 31, 2014.
A memorandum from County of Erie Department of Environment & Planning dated December 9, 2009 regarding the Proposed 2010 Community Project Ranking.
A letter to Mark Foley, President of Community Services for the Developmentally Disabled dated December 10, 2009 regarding the Individual Residential Alternative Facility at 179 Syracuse Street.
A letter to Firefighter Joseph Briggs and Fire Captain John Graf dated December 14, 2009, congratulating and thanking them for their recent efforts at a fire on Duffy Drive.
A letter to the Superintendent of the Tonawanda School District dated December 14, 2009, regarding Employee Medical Insurance Costs/Administration.
A letter to business owners in the City of Tonawanda, dated December 14, 2009, regarding the Erie County Microenterprise Loan Program. Ordered Filed
COMMUNICATION FROM CITY OFFICIALS AND CORRESPONDENCE
The following monthly reports were received by the City Clerk:
Referred to the Committee of the Whole Ordered Filed
A letter to Erie County Industrial Development Agency from City Attorney Ronald Trabucco dated December 7, 2009 regarding the Second Amendment/Agreement between the City and ECIDA regarding Spaulding Fibre Site. Referred to the Committee of the Whole
A letter to NYS DEC from City Attorney Ronald Trabucco dated December 9, 2009 regarding SPDES Violations, Revised order on Consent. Referred to the Committee of the Whole Ordered Filed
MOTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS
229. By Councilmember Perkins seconded by Councilmember Waterhouse Resolved, that the bills be allowed as audited and the City Clerk be authorized to draw warrants on the bills for the various amounts.
Ayes: Perkins, Waterhouse, Kossow, Davis, Zeisz Nays: None Resolution declared adopted
230. By the Council seconded by the Council Resolved, that the 2009 General Fund Budget be amended to account for the various salary increments during the fiscal year:
Account Department Amount1210.100 Mayor minus $(20,500) 1325.100 City Treasurer minus (5,300) 1355.100 City Assessor add 1,700 1410.100 City Clerk minus (1,385) 1420.100 City Attorney add 875 1430.100 Personnel Admin minus (57,000) 1432.100 Civil Service minus (1,600) 1440.100 City Engineer minus (16,000) 1620.100 Municipal Building add 500 3120.100 Police Dept add 37,000 3310.100 Traffic/Signal Dept add 2,000 3410.100 Fire Dept minus (9,000) 3410.101 Fire Dept add 14,000 3620.100 Building Inspector add 750 5010.100 Highway Office minus (27,000) 5110.100 Highways & Bridges add 23,000 transfer fr 8120 6510.100 Veterans Service add 675 7020.100 Recreation add 59,000 8120.100 Bureau of Sewers minus (88,000) transfer to 5110/8160 8160.100 Garbage & Trash add 28,000 transfer from 5110/8120 8170.100 Street Cleaning add 2,800 transfer from 8120 1989.461 Contingency add 55,485 transfer from salaries
Ayes: Perkins, Waterhouse, Kossow, Davis, Zeisz Nays: None Resolution declared adopted
231. By the Council seconded by the Council Resolved, at the recommendation of the City Engineer, Jason J. LaMonaco, P.E., that award of the General Construction Contract for the Entrance Rehabilitation for the Tonawanda Public Library be made to MGR Constructors, Inc., at a cost not to exceed $48,540.00.
Funding/Fiscal Impact: $9,708 from the General Fund
Ayes: Perkins, Waterhouse, Kossow, Davis, Zeisz Nays: None Resolution declared adopted
COMMENTS FROM THE COUNCILMEMBERS AFTER RESOLUTIONS
Judge Joseph Cassata – I’ll keep it short so we can all say our hello’s and goodbye’s. Good evening Mayor, Common Council, City Officials, and general public. Good evening, my name is Joseph Cassata and it is nice to be back in these chambers on this side of the bench. Tonight I would just simply like to do a few things. First of all, I would like to basically enlighten our Council and our Mayor and our public as to how well Tonawanda City Court is doing. I do this every year so we have a handle on matters. Tonawanda City Court, I am proud to say, is a full-service court. Meaning it is a full-time court with a full-time Judge, myself, and a half-time Judge, Judge Saltarelli. Within that full-time court we have Specialty Courts. The name of judicial business today is called Specialty Courts. We have had much success in these courts. We have, of course, the Drug Court. I have been doing that now for about twelve years and remember whom we are helping out. We are helping out, in many cases, our family, and our friends, our students in schools, our constituents. Recently I had the honor and the pleasure to be designated by our Administrative Judge as a hub Drug Court for the County of Erie. What that means is not only do I address matters in Tonawanda City Court involving Drug Court matters, but there are many Towns and Villages that do not have Drug Courts throughout the County. The Town of Tonawanda, Village of Kenmore and I can go on and on. I think there is about a dozen towns and villages in the whole County. By law, legislation was passed and I was duly designated to have jurisdiction over transferred cases from these various towns and villages. So that for example, the Town of Tonawanda where they do not have the resources that we have, the staff that we have, the Drug Court that we have, they can transfer cases to me, a criminal matter, and I have jurisdiction, I can resolve that case from start to finish. I would certainly like to thank the Administrative Judge of the 8th Judicial District, formally Judge Townsend, now Judge Furletto, for the confidence they have placed in our City Drug Court to enable us to take care of and help other courts throughout the County, that is really special. We have a Domestic Violence Court, an Alcohol Treatment Court and most recently we have engaged in a Veteran’s Court. Buffalo is the premier Veteran’s Court. We all know what is going on there. We send our kids over there to Iraq and Afghanistan and they come home and they have problems. Having problems sometimes leads to criminal behavior. We now have a specialty court where we can deal with that criminal behavior. We can deal with the problems with the understanding that we are not just going to go through the cycle of crime, convictions, jail, that revolving door. But we are going to look at the cause of the problem, maybe a war, whatever the case is and consequently we would have resources to address those problems and help our Veteran’s, so I am very proud of that Court. We also have a Housing Court. All I want to say about the Housing Court is that this City for the first time in, I have been in this business of serving the public for about thirty-eight years and I want to tell you for all of the Mayors and Council people I have been through this City in the past couple of years have taken an aggressive mode in the Housing Court. All I will say with due respect is that Mayor Pilozzi has a very aggressive calendar which appears in my Court on Friday morning which is called Housing Violations. With the introduction of a Code Enforcement Officer, helping Kevin Rank has made his program more aggressive and has made me a lot more busy. Thank you Mayor for making me busy. That court is going very, very well by the way. To highlight the specialty court, I would like to bring your attention to the Mental Health Court. A really tough court. Mental Health Court has been in existence in Buffalo for just a few years. Also in Niagara Falls, Lackawanna and now the City of Tonawanda. Not all jurisdictions or city courts have Mental Health Courts. We have been planning this court for about a year. We have around forty-five stakeholders in this court. Stakeholders are your resources. We go from everybody from prosecution side, to defense side, to political side, to not-for-profit side, to business side. As a matter of fact, Mayor Pilozzi is one of the stakeholders in the Mental Health Court. When we institute this court, which will probably be at the end of January, that calls for additional resources, additional staff, and additional space. I am not here tonight to ask for a new courthouse. Can’t afford it. But the little space I did ask for, for purposes of initiating this Mental Health Court, and that is the real reason why I am here, is to thank Mayor Pilozzi and to thank the Council and to thank equally Chief Cindy Young. Because in this City Hall within the four walls, there is very little space for expansion, and we frankly are all sardines. Whether it is the Police Department, the City Court or heading down this way, we are all kind of sardines. And lucky we like each other, because we make it work out. But we were in need of additional space, and with the cooperation of Chief Young and Mayor Pilozzi, we had the State in here last week at a meeting and we worked it out real well. So on behalf on the City Court of Tonawanda and the Mental Health Court, to be opened up at the end of January, a thank you to our City Father, Mayor Pilozzi, and to our Common Council and equally to Chief Young. Lastly, I would be remiss if I stood here and didn’t thank some nice people for some nice service to the City. As I indicated before, after about thirty-eight years, it is still very special when I think about serving the City of Tonawanda. So Gary, Jim, Rick & Colleen, all I have to say is that you stand above a very small percentage of the population of this City, who has had the opportunity and the honor and pleasure to serve this City. I know this is the final meeting, and I know it is bitter sweet for some people in this room and perhaps for you, but remember something, they can never take away the fact that you folks served our City. As you leave tonight, when you walk out that door tonight, and you have that heavy feeling in your heart, just remember that you are really in a special fraternity that did give something to the City, did serve the City and that is something that you will always remember. So on behalf of the City Court of Tonawanda, I want to say thank you, all of you, I wish you happy holidays, and stay well.
Councilmember Rick Davis – First and foremost, I’d like to wish everybody a happy and safe holiday season. Tonight, Carl kind of said it, and so did the Mayor, about losing a lot of experience at one time up here. Twenty-four years of experience dealing with City issues, continuity and stuff like that, is walking out the door this evening, and it is going to be left with Mr. Poole, Mr. Gilbert, Mr. Slisz, and, God help us, Mr. Boyle’s hands. But you know, I don’t think anybody gets elected to do it for the money, cause it sure as hell is not the reason why I did it. You do it to try to make a difference and you hope that at the end of your term that things, hopefully, are a little bit better than when you were elected two or four years ago. I am just going to take this opportunity to go down the line. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Colleen for four years. I don’t think there is anybody that has been on this Council that has looked over the budget with a fine toothcomb more than she has. She didn’t say too much up here but I know her expertise and her diligence, when it came to budgets, will be sorely missed by this Council come August. Mr. Waterhouse came to us as a cast-off from the School Board, and the two years I’ve had a chance to work with him have been very pleasurable. He brought a lot of the experience that he dealt with on the School Board right into city government and he didn’t miss a beat. Jan Bodie, I don’t think you will find a better Clerk anywhere, anywhere, than Jan Bodie. There was nobody better before and there will be nobody better after her. She is phenomenal. Carl is probably the constant professional. In the four years I think I’ve seen Carl lose his cool once, and sometimes I lost my cool because he didn’t lose his cool. Carl probably is the best person for this position because he can gel all sorts of personalities, egos, and make it work and conduct City business in the way it needs to be conducted here in the City. Ron and I were both elected together four years ago, and I have really had the pleasure of working with him on Spaulding Fibre and I know he has a tough road ahead of him the next four years with everything that is coming down from the federal and state level. I know Ron will definitely be up to the task of handling it and making sure the City is steered in the right direction. That leaves Mr. Kossow. You know “speaks softly but carries a big stick” is what I like to term Jim. There were a lot of times when Jim had to make a three or four hour drive to make it in for a meeting, but the commitment that he has showed to this job, with his full-time job that he has had to encounter, is very honorable and he should be very proud of that. There are not too many people who would have stayed in the position. They would have packed it in, and let somebody else take it. You have done a wonderful job for I believe twelve years serving the residents of the 3rd Ward and your expertise will be sorely missed. And me, I’m not big into tooting my own horn, but many of the hot button issues in the City have happened, ironically, in the 4th Ward, whether its been Tonawanda Coke, landfills, Spaulding, possibly moving ahead with the Little League development. I would like to think that I represented the residents of the 4th Ward with honor and dignity over the last four years and I would just like to take this moment to thank my family for their love and support, my friends and the constituents of the 4th Ward for voting me in for two terms on the council.
Councilmember James Kossow: First off, I would like to talk about the commitment of our Fire and Police. Just over the last few weeks when we had the situation of a fire up in the 4th Ward. I would like to commend the efforts of John Graf and Joe Briggs in their efforts to go ahead and rescue those individuals from that house. Just yesterday, there was a robbery at one of the banks in Tonawanda. The police made an arrest today. It always happens when we have an emergency, whether someone is ill at their house, or someone falls, or needs help, the first thing they call is 9-1-1 and Police and Fire are there almost before you hang up the phone. They come that fast. My hats off to those two departments and all City workers for their efforts over all the years that I’ve been on the Council. There are a couple individuals I would like to mention. Specifically both those two guys standing back there, Judge Cassata and Ron Trabucco. Judge Cassata was the City Attorney in my first term, and I missed his words of wisdom up here all the time. He always had something to contribute. Both of their efforts as City Attorney for the City, we’re very blessed to have Joe, now Judge Cassata, and Ron Trabucco, the City Attorney. My hats off to both of them. Two other employees that I’ve worked with probably the most, I will miss a great deal. First one, I consider a dear friend. When the City took out the politics in the City Clerk’s position, I thought we had done something right by appointing Jan Bodie as the City Clerk. She has done a terrific job as the City Clerk and I’m going to miss working with her. She is a great person for the City. The other person, I don’t think is quite a surprise, this guy gives his blood to the City. Everyday he comes to work and he’s done it for a number of years, and that is Joe Hogenkamp, our City Treasurer. I just hope he stays here until he retires because we need a good person in the Treasurer’s Office. Next, I’ve been fortunate to work with three Mayors for the time I’ve been on the Council. First Ron was a Councilman and we worked together my first term and as Mayor. I think the guys commitment to the City; you can’t question it. He’s doing it because he wants to make the City a good place and move the City of Tonawanda forward. In the last four years we’ve had Spaulding Fibre come down and we’re moving forward on that. We have Leisure Living in the old Hy-Grade building so there are a lot of things moving forward in the City and hopefully, we can continue in that direction. The other Mayor, Jack Gallagher, a guy who was here before most of the City workers were here, this guy was here before 7:00 in the morning working as Mayor. Again as a Councilman, a Mayor, and served the City as a teacher for a long, long time. So there are things that we were able to get done. The Grants Building sat vacant for a number of years. We got a business from Amherst to move into there and they put almost a $1,000,000 into the former Grants Building and that helped breathe life into the downtown. We had that anchor that was sitting there for so many years that was vacant. And then Mayor Alice Roth. I had the opportunity to work with her for two years and her emphasis was on the waterfront. Gateway Harbor was done with people from the State, Robin Schimminger, there was always something and now we have a jewel in Gateway Harbor. Another big thing that I was involved with and her major accomplishment was getting the old high school rehabilitated and again, it was another property that sat vacant for almost fifteen to twenty years. We were able to get senior housing into there. So unfortunately things don’t happen as quickly as you want, but those are three individuals that were an honor to work with. As far as the Council, I think this was one of the best Councils that I served on. We faced some difficult issues, and I don’t want to take up a lot of time, down the line, Colleen, Gary, Rick – it’s been an honor working with you as well. There are two Councilmen that I did want to specifically mention. One, I worked with over the years was Tom Smyers. He was everywhere. He went to so many City functions and I always thought that if you served the City, if the Police or Firemen are having something or if there’s a City function, if downtown is having a party or an event, that you should attend those types of things so, as I said, Tom would be everywhere. So I always thought that was important and I had a lot of respect for Tom as a Councilman. The last person I’ve had the opportunity to work all my ten years and that is our Council President. As Rick mentioned, I think the City is blessed for having him as a Council President for, was it eighteen years now, something like that. The guy is the energized bunny when it comes to being Common Council President. He makes it appear so smooth. Sit in that seat a few times, I really appreciate what he does as Rick mentioned, he keeps us focused, moving forward and he has always done whatever he felt was in the best interest of the City. As far as the whole Council, it was the same thing, we always wanted to do whatever we felt was the best for the City. Sometimes they were difficult decisions but I think we stood by those decisions. And lastly, I would also like to thank my family for supporting me over the years that I served on the Council. They sacrificed a lot. I want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday. Thank you Mr. President.
Councilmember Perkins – Everybody who attends these meetings kind of knows I’m not big into public speaking so basically I’m just going to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I would be remiss in doing my job not to put a plug in to get Willowbend paved. It is very bad. After Willowbend is paved I would really appreciate it if you could throw a little pavement on Ridgedale. Thank you.
Councilmember Waterhouse – First of all, I’d like to thank the voters of the 2nd Ward for giving me the opportunity to sit up here. It’s really been a privilege to sit up here and serve with the group that we have up here. I know I’m the new guy here, I had two years in and working with these veterans, they made it very easy for me to get caught up. I gotta tell you, it was a lot of work and I went home a lot of times with headaches, so Bill and Chuck, the headaches, they’ll go away, don’t’ worry. These guys really did help me along, and like the Judge says, thank you for your service too to the community. It is appreciated by some of us. I’d like to be able to say that we had a lot of fun, but we had some fun. It was kind of tough at first but one of the things when they talked about Jan that they did not point out that I think is key with her; she’s a very good listener. Being a new one, I’d come in and sit at that chair sometimes and I would just on and on and on. Even though Nancy doesn’t think I talk, sometimes I can talk quite a bit. And Jan would sit there and smile and nod and think, this guys going on and on and on, but she’s so sweet and I just want to say thank you so much. Joe Hogenkamp, I want to apologize for all my nagging, for all the questions when Carl put me on the audit committee at first I thought he was crazy but it was one of the greatest ways to learn. Unfortunately, I had to bother you constantly with questions but thank you for your help; it’s appreciated. I’d also like to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and a very safe and Happy New Year.
Mayor Pilozzi – I don’t know what I can say that hasn’t been said already but I can remember a few meetings back that I believe I mentioned that it takes a lot of guts to run for political office today. Your name is on the line, your family is on the line, it’s been well documented right here. We spend a lot of time, and if you really do this job right, you go to sleep every night saying, “did I do the right thing?” and the litmus test is, “did I do the right thing for the City of Tonawanda?”. I can tell you that the folks sitting up here helped me be a better Mayor. They had questions, they disagreed with me, sometimes they agreed with me, most times they did, but the fact of the matter is the way they conducted themselves not only made me a better Mayor but they made this a better City, so my heart-felt thanks goes out to each and every one of them. Obviously, to them and their families I wish them all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I just want to recall something Judge Cassata said and that’s about the Mental Court. The way the State’s going, I hope I’m not on the wrong side of the Court because it’s going to be a tough road to haul, but we’ll do it and I don’t think anybody here would hesitate to be called for their expertise and their help from time to time and I would suggest that be done. As Councilman Davis mentioned, we’ve got many years of experience saying goodbye tonight and that’s always a tough, tough time. I personally would not hesitate to call any one of them. They’re all good people, they’re good Tonawandans, they care about this City and my best wishes go out to them. It was also mentioned tonight about the motto, “to protect and serve”. You have two firefighters that went into a burning home on Duffy Drive last week without their fire gear, without any protective gear and saved the lives of two individuals. Tonight we were going to try and honor them but unfortunately, one of them is out of town, so we’ll save that for the next meeting, but that’s the kind of professionalism, dedication and commitment we have in the City of Tonawanda and the employees that work here. You take the Police Department. Yesterday, I have a scanner in my office that I keep on so I can hear what’s going on in the City just in case there’s an emergency and I need to go some place. Well, all of a sudden, I hear the dispatcher, all cars respond to HSBC, robbery in progress. That was yesterday about 9:30 A.M. They already got the guy in jail. That’s the kind of professionalism commitment and dedication that our people have in the City, whether it be Police, Fire, DPW, Parks and Recreation, you get the same service from these folks and sometimes you have to stop and say, “boy, I’m glad I live in the City of Tonawanda”, for that reason. Department Heads. I know these individuals that are leaving us tonight as Councilmembers highlighted some of the Department Heads that they’ve been working with for a number of years. There is no way you’re going to find any people better that a Joe Hogenkamp for a Treasurer, a Jan Bodie for a Clerk, Chief Young for Police Department, Chief Stuart, I mean these people come in day in and day out and do the best they can for the City and those Department Heads and every employee in this City, I wish a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to. Included in that mix, obviously is Ron Trabucco, our City Attorney, Judge Cassata. Again, they’re in the legal end of our business. Today, what can you do without attorneys, without judges and we sat down and had a good talk about how we can accommodate the judicial system here in the City of Tonawanda as it expands and I think that’s gonna come off without a hitch and at least, we have the right people talking to each other. Lastly, I’d just like to say that it’s gonna be a tough road to haul. You know that, the State’s in big trouble, the Country’s in big trouble, but I’m sure with the commitment that I’ve seen from these individuals and hopefully from the new individuals coming in, I see no reason why we’re not going to skip a beat here. Carl and I have already discussed it on several occasions that it might put a little more pressure on us only because of the experience we have vs. the experience of the new four coming in except for Blake of course, but we’ll work through that. I guess I would ask in closing that your prayers and thoughts are going to be needed to get us through that and my last comment will be, please keep in mind all those who serve this Country in uniform that are somewhere in Afghanistan, somewhere in Iraq, that aren’t going to be here for Christmas. They’ve already missed Thanksgiving. Who knows how many times they’re going to be going back to these places so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers and again, very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and healthy New Year to you all.
Council President Zeisz – I had worked on, I was writing stuff down, and I thought, Jan sat next to me for a couple years now and my best words usually don’t come from a piece of paper; they usually come off the top of my head, plus the fact even though it was said I’m pretty good about controlling my emotions, I don’t think you’d hear that from my wife. I pretty much wear my heart on my sleeve. I didn’t want to get in too deep because I just knew I couldn’t make it through it but this is definitely a different experience. I haven’t experienced all four individuals going off at the same time. Years ago, when we had seven members, that had happened but there was still going to be two left behind. You know I think Judge Cassata said it best, there’s only a few individuals in the history of this City that have the opportunity to sit in these chairs and I’ve had the privilege of working with a lot of great people over the years. Most of those individuals have always been really great about caring about the City. It wasn’t about the little bit of pay we get, it was about the fact that they wanted to do something for their community and these four individuals that are going out tonight, I can definitely say have put a lot of time and energy into this in the time that they’ve been here and it is something that they will take with them forever and no one can ever take that away from them, the time that they gave to this community. Whether it’s two years or ten years, it takes a lot, not only from the work standpoint, but it takes away from your family. I know as much as any of these people up here, when I got in this chair, my daughter was six years old and she’s twenty-four now and there’s a price to pay for being here but you know, my father worked for the City for a long time and he instilled in me a desire to do whatever I could for my community and that’s why I ended up here and that’s why all these people are here because they wanted to do something for the place they call home. You get something else out of it. A lot of times you go to work and you work with people year after year, and that’s what it is, it’s work. You go home to your family and your friends and everyone else goes home. For some reason, it’s different here in some cases. Some of these people become your dearest friends. That doesn’t mean that you hang out together on a regular basis but as far as the time that’s spent together and the years that are spent together, Jim is someone I consider a close friend. We’ve been together a long time, on two separate occasions on the Council. Colleen and myself have been pretty close over the eight years. I told her I would miss the phone calls at work and the phone calls after our Council meetings but these are hard working people that really cared about the community. Rick in the four years that he’s been here really fought hard for some major issues in his ward, and Gary, God love him, was on the School Board and then decided to go for some more punishment and came over here. It’s not an easy thing. This is not a wealthy community financially and every year seems like a struggle. I remember when I first got on the Council, Joe remembers, we weren’t sure how we were gonna make it then. All these years later, we’re still trying to figure out how we’re gonna make it. Somehow we always do. But I will say one thing. We’re not a wealthy community financially, but for the people that I’ve known in my life, there’s a hell of a lot of good people in this City and a lot of people that really care a lot. I can’t talk anymore. I just want you to know that I’m willing to admit this in front of everyone twenty-six and one-half years ago when I got married, ten minutes I cried at the altar before I could start the vows. I couldn’t stop crying. I finally made it through it. Fortunately, it was not on video. So I just have a small token for everyone that’s leaving, to acknowledge their years of service. I have one for Colleen, Gary, Jim, and Rick. I just want to thank the four of them and wish them the best going forward. Welcomethe new member of the Councils. Blake for a second go round, Chuck, Bill, and Dick Slisz who’s not with us tonight. January 5th the fun starts for the four of you and myself. I just want to wish everyone a great holiday, Happy New Year and enjoy the holidays Ron, because it’s not gonna get easier for us. And one final thought, there’s some people here tonight and not here, surprisingly, that make a habit of being here on the first and third Tuesday of the month and I just want to thank you. I wish more residents took the time to be here to see what’s happening in their City but for that I thank you and it’s great to see you again Nancy and like I said, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
ADJOURNMENT
232. By Councilmember Kossow seconded by Councilmember Davis Resolved, that this Common Council adjourn until, January 5, 2010.
Ayes: Perkins, Waterhouse, Kossow, Davis, Zeisz Nays: None Resolution declared adopted
Return to CITY OF TONAWANDA web page
|