The Citizens Advisory Committee will not be prevented from meeting in City Hall if a resolution addressing the issue of CAC meetings gets Common Council approval today.
The group will still be able to use City Hall for meeting purposes, but just once a month. That will be the result if Common Council passes Resolution 41-2012 restricting the CAC to one two-hour meeting per month. The CAC would continue to have access to the mayor's second floor conference room the second Wednesday of each month from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
The resolution states the CAC has been allowed to use the facility in the past for its meetings that "provide an opportunity for public discourse and dialogue on matters and issues relevant to city residents and taxpayers ... it is in the best interests of the city to provide for regular, limited and secure access to City Hall for such meetings."
The city would be released from possible liability involving the Frontier Chemical Royal Avenue Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility in Niagara Falls under 42-2012.
According to the resolution, the city has been designated through federal and state superfund legislation as a potentially-responsible party in regard to a matter involving the Niagara Falls facility. The issue stems from a shipment of waste from the city to the facility in the early 1990s. When Frontier Chemical closed, state and federal superfund laws kicked in - leaving the city and other entities in the same situation potentially liable for some of the cleanup costs after the site closed in the early '90s.
According to City Attorney Ron Szot, the city will pay $2,000 for the release from future liability, even though the city's shipment some 20 years ago was handled legally.
Council will receive a communication concerning the city's bike trail.
City resident Richard Mirth has written Mayor Anthony J. Dolce and council to advise them of a concern about the proposed path for Phase 2 of the trail. The proposed path would remove 12 large trees and the bushes underneath, destroying part of a small grove of trees across from the lighthouse at Point Gratiot. Mirth suggests moving the path to the north to utilize one of the two lanes in the one-way road leaving the park.
"The grove is a critical nesting area for at least one species and serves as a gathering point for warblers and other song birds awaiting favorable winds to cross Lake Erie," Mirth stated. "I realize this project has been inherited from the previous administration, but it will be built on your watch. The real risk is that the project draws national attention and a firestorm of criticism including litigation. It seems prudent to adjust the route slightly to avoid cutting through the grove."
Council will also deal with four other communications from the public and two applications for loudspeaker permits. Council's workshop is set for 5:30 p.m. with the regular meeting scheduled for 6 p.m., both in City Hall.
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