— — North Tonawanda city officials on Tuesday discussed the imminent reopening of Sweeney Street around the Remington Rand building as a surge of work is now underway there.

Lumber City Development Corp. Executive Director Jim Sullivan said 115 laborers are currently working on the project to create a massive live/work loft apartment building there.

“It’s non stop,” he said of the work. “Windows are next. They’re roughing the first floor as we speak.”

Sweeney Street was closed at the start of the summer to accommodate initial stages of the work. Though it was estimated to reopen closer to the start of August, It is now expected to open in the coming days or weeks.

“There were initially some last minute things going on,” Mayor Rob Ortt said. “They weren’t ready to open it about two weeks ago so we’re just waiting for the thumbs up from R&P Oak Hill, which is the company doing the work.”

Buffalo Bolt

The council on Tuesday also approved sale of a parcel at the city’s other long-anticipated development at the former Buffalo Bolt site on Oliver Street.

Aquasol, which according to its website manufactures water soluble paper and tape, was approved to buy one lot on the property in 2005 and on Tuesday was cleared to purchase a second, adjacent lot on the newly finished business park.

The move is expected to represent an expansion of the business.

Work to prepare a half dozen or so commercial lots at the long-dormant former factory campus cost $1.2 million and was subsidized through numerous grants. The multi-acre property was until the midpoint of the last century home to hardware manufacturers Buffalo Bolt, and later, Roblin Steel in the heart of the city's old industrial corridor.

Aquasol expressed interest in a three-acre lot in 2005 but the sale was held up by the Department of Environmental Conservation while the city addressed cleanup issues. With the project now complete, two parcels totaling 6.82 acres have been approved by the council for sale to the company. The rate is $5,000 per acre and the total sale price is $34,100, according to City Attorney Shawn Nickerson.

First Ward Alderman Dennis Pasiak said he toured the site recently and mentioned that two recent change orders have been requested to remove some lingering concrete from the site where curbing, drainage and roadways have been installed.

Pasiak said the current contractor believes the work is worth $40,000 and that City Engineer Dale Marshall has expressed interest in looking elsewhere for a better deal.

Planning

With Sullivan attending Tuesday’s council work session, Second Ward alderman Rich Andres urged the council to consider funding rezoning in the city in the evolving 2011 capital budget.

A master plan completed last year has no teeth without local zoning changes to enact its laborious findings about the city’s appearance in a post-heavy industry era.

“You can’t implement any of the recommendations until you move forward with the zoning,” Sullivan agreed. ‘What they’re saying is, to move into the 21st century you have to take a look at zoning.”

Numerous industrial zones still exist in residential areas, the result of a need for spot zoning that contributed to a hodgepodge of allowable building uses in inappropriate places. Part of the old scheme, which hasn’t been updated in decades, evolved from the days when many factory workers lived within walking distance from their respective plants.

But officials are wary of the roughly $50,000 it would cost to redraw city zoning maps during a tough budget year.

If it’s not included in the capital plan, members of the council asked Sullivan if the LCDC would be able to perhaps find grants or similar funds to finance the project.

Sullivan said there is little to no grant money currently available for that sort of undertaking.

“With looming layoffs I don’t know if we should be adding more to the budget, I mean, bonds have to be paid,” Alderwoman-at-Large Nancy Donovan said.

There was combined council support, however, to explore other ways the LCDC might leverage funding or otherwise offset the costs.

“Typically a local development corporation wouldn’t be involved,” Sullivan said. “But this is a different kind of company. We want to get things done.”