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The North Tonawanda Sun / Saturday, January 03, 2015
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Caruana has high expectations for 2015 By Kimberlee Sabshin NT SUN CORRESPONDENT
As 2014 comes to a close and communities prepare to welcome in the New Year and new budgets, Town of Tonawanda Supervisor Anthony Caruana spoke at last week’s regular Town Board meeting regarding his hopes for the new year and progress
the town has made toward its official motto of being a “great place to live, work and play.” On Dec. 22, Caruana cited increasing economic development in the Town of Tonawanda as one of his main goals for the coming year, and he said the progress of the North Youngmann Commerce Center is one indicator of this development. Currently, there
are two tenants, Unifrax and First Source, slated to occupy two parcels of land in the commerce park. Unifrax manufactures high-temperature insulation products for industrial use, while First Source, formerly Wythe Will Tzetzo, LLC, is a candy distributor. “We’re really moving along with economic development in the North Youngmann Commerce Center. We
have those two big projects going on there with Unifrax and First Source coming in, so we’re very excited about that,” Caruana said. Caruana said business development will also be including another new business moving in on River Road as well.
See “2015” continued on Page 4.
Ortt heads to the Senate, Kiedrowski to serve as his Chief of Staff By Kori Sciandra
NORTH TONAWANDA SUN EDITOR
The City of North Tonawanda saw a great deal of change toward the end of 2014. At the top of the list is North Tonawanda Mayor and Senator-Elect Robert Ortt, who secured a win in the New York State Senate serving the 62nd District come next week. His leadership in North Tonawanda for the last five years has had a tremendous impact on the economic development within the city, as well as, the general forward motion the city has seen lately. The North Tonawanda Common Council appointed
Art Pappas to serve as Mayor of North Tonawanda, beginning in 2015. While I believe Pappas is more than qualified to step into this leadership role, I also believe he has some big shoes to fill. Pappas will be sworn into office at 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 1 at North Tonawanda City Hall, 216 Payne Ave., North Tonawanda. Ortt will serve as Master of Ceremonies and administer the Oath of Office. The Rev. AW Moldenhauer will be on hand for the invocation, prayer, and benediction. Once Pappas assumes his role as mayor, Ortt will be sworn into office at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015 at the Riviera Theatre, 67 Webster
Senator-Elect Robert Ortt. Photos submitted. St., North Tonawanda. Supreme Court Justice Paul B. Wojtaszek will preside at the ceremony. The changes occurring within the city’s governing roles are expected to bring a new wave of ideas, growth, and success to the City of North Tonawanda. Of course, adjustments will need to be made and patience will be a key factor, but the city will continue to move in the right direction. The foundation has been laid and Pappas has the tools needed to lead North
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Kimberlee Sabshin
NT SUN CORRESPONDENT
As 2014 came to a close, new things are expected to be in store for the City of Tonawanda. Mayor Rick Davis, who began the year as the city’s new mayor and successor to former Mayor Ronald J. Pilozzi, recently spoke about his hopes for the coming year and looked back on highlights from 2014, as well as what can be done to continue to make his city a better place to live. Davis said of the 2015 budget, which the Common Council voted to adopt at a formal meeting in November, “[We] formulated a fiscally conservative budget that helps preserve our fund balance and lays the foundation for the next three years of my administration, [and] implemented a new recycling program that has increased recycling by three-quarters of a ton a day, which increases revenues and decreases the amount of garbage the city has to pay to dispose of.” Davis said in the new year, he would like to see the city move forward with its proposed Little League Drive development, as well as a local waterfront revitalization plan that has not been updated since 1995. He also hopes to make progress on the City of Tonawanda’s comprehensive plan, which Davis referred to as the “blueprint of the city” and a guide for “where the residents and city leaders envision the city heading towards in the next 15 to 20 years.” “It’s what a lot of communities use to leverage grant money in order to get projects moving forward, so I would really like to get rolling on those, and update those too, because they really go hand-in-hand. The waterfront revitalization plan is really the blueprint of what the waterfront corridor is going to look like in 15 to 20 years,” Davis said. Davis also plans to have the city continue to look at ways to save money, including via shared service agreements collaborating with other local communities to partner up and reduce costs. Currently, the City of Tonawanda has a shared service agreement with the Town of Tonawanda for Assessor David Marrano, who serves as the assessor for both of the municipalities. There are also plans to have more bicycle trails, a farmers’ market on weekends and other construction projects. “There’s the reconstruction of Niagara Street. We’re trying to get that on the list of projects for the Greater Buffalo-Niagara Regional Transportation Council to consider, because that’s going to be a multi-million dollar project the city won’t be afford to foot the bill for,” Davis explained. Other smaller planned changes for downtown include smaller ones, such as changing the street lighting downtown. More recently, the city received a $187,225 grant in mid-December to help revitalize its downtown area. The grant will enable the city to hire a program manager to train business owners on Adam, Broad, Main, Seymour and Young Streets to help market themselves more effectively. The city also received a $78,567 grant to make upgrades to Ives Pond Park, particularly the skating rink and athletic fields. When asked what else he felt the city accomplished in 2014, Davis said he was glad it secured a realtor, Pyramid Brokerage Company, to market Spaulding Commerce Park and bring more tenants into the developing lot. Davis also said the city helped Simmers Crane, which is building a new office in the park set to open in 2015, resolve issues that held up the facility’s construction. “[We are focusing on] developing Spaulding Commerce, working with Pyramid Brokerage to try to do what we can and assist them in any way possible in slowly building out the Spaulding Commerce Park, and anything else that may come up along the way,” Davis said.
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Davis discusses plans for New Year, highlights of 2014
AT DEGRAFF MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, WE TAKE PRIDE IN WESTERN NEW YORK, AND EACH OTHER. // And as part of
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 03, 2015
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See “Changes” continued on Page 5.
PODIATRY CARE REHABILITATION SERVICES
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Tonawanda into 2015, with expected success. Additionally, City ClerkTreasurer Scott Kiedrowski announced his resignation, effective Jan. 5. He will assume his new role as Chief of Staff for Ortt next week. Kiedrowski released a statement last week announcing his resignation. Full statement released by Kiedrowski can be found on Page 3.
PALLIATIVE CARE
ENDOCRINOLOGY
Mostly cloudy with 30% chance of snow
KIEDROWSKI STEPS DOWN AS CITY CLERK-TREASURER
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
HOLIDAY SPIRIT ...................................................PAGE PAGE 2
FLU .........................................................................PAGE PAGE 6
PAGE 3 CLERK-TREASURER ..............................................PAGE
PAGE 7 GARDEN RAILWAY EXHIBIT ................................PAGE
PAGE 4 IN LOVING MEMORY ............................................PAGE
SPORTS............................................................. PAGES 8, 9
PAGE 4 HONORED FOR SERVICE ......................................PAGE
CLASSIFIED ADS ..........................................PAGES PAGES 10, 11
PAGE 5 MINIMUM WAGE ..................................................PAGE
PAGE 12 AUTO TECH COMPETITION................................PAGE
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