Local News
NORTH TONAWANDA: Council OKs deal with Calgon
North Tonawanda now has a five-year lease agreement with global carbon firm Calgon, one key component of balancing the city’s hopeful revenues in the 2010 budget.
All five council members voted to approve leasing the city’s carbon furnace, housed at the wastewater treatment plant, to the Pennsylvania-based firm for $150,000 per year. Hefty savings are also expected to be realized, said Soos’ administrative Assistant Jeff Mis, who credited Water Superintendent Paul Drof for leading the innovative money-making idea.
“This is actually a ground-breaking agreement,” Mis said. “One that at least around this area doesn’t exist.”
In addition to the annual $150,000 lease fee to Calgon, Drof and Mis expect savings of around $150,000 per year since Calgon will filter carbon for their own use but also for what the city needs each year. Maintenance costs for the city’s machinery will also likely fall on Calgon, so long as it’s normal wear and tear, Drof said recently.
The five-year agreement concludes with the option to renew on a yearly basis. Either party can opt out of the deal in the meantime.
“If this is going great guns and we’re getting our regeneration of carbon ... it’s obviously something we want to continue to do,” Mis told the gallery following the vote.
In a letter Drof wrote to Soos recently, he concludes negotiations leading up to the lease agreement went to the satisfaction of both parties.
City Attorney Shawn Nickerson must still review the written agreement before it’s finalized.
In other city business on election night, the council approved a new local law designed to promote property maintenance through potential tax breaks on the type of mixed-use property found along Oliver Street and elsewhere — where ground-floor businesses are combined with upper-floor apartments.
Such properties are part of the city’ comprehensive plan for that part of the city, though any such properties may be considered by the council as qualifying once the law is passed.
The legislation, which has been forwarded to the mayor’s office for a public hearing, grants a seven-year freeze on property taxes provided if $10,000 in improvements are made to the property. A hearing must still be scheduled before enactment.
Contact reporter Neale Gulley at 693-1000, ext. 114.
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