SALAMANCA — Several new faces will represent the City of Salamanca’s Common Council in 2017, but the incumbent council officiated their final meeting of 2016 on Dec. 14.
Mayor Ronald Ball and city councilmen John “Jack” Hill, D-Ward 1; Gary Wind, R-Ward 4; and Luke Stewart, R-Ward 5 took a moment on the final meeting of their two-year terms to reflect and thank the city for allowing them to serve.
“There’s a lot of people I want to thank, but I probably won’t be able to name them all,” said Stewart, ending a four-year run as Ward 5 representative and two years as council president.
Stewart was elected as a 19-year-old in 2012, “just basically a kid,” he said. “People had faith in me that I could go in there and do a good job.”
In his four years on the council, Stewart said he was thankful to both administrations he worked with, the people he worked with in the various departments and everything he was able to learn.
Stewart noted putting together the city budgets and receiving the casino revenues again after a three-year drought as stand-out experiences.
“The process of walking into the city not having (the casino revenue) and us getting them back while we were in office posed different challenges and unique experiences for someone so young that people believed in,” he said.
Stewart and Wind both wished their successors, Janet Koch, alderman-elect for Ward 5, and Sandy Magiera, alderman-elect for Ward 4, both in attendance, good luck in their upcoming term with the new administration.
“I’ll just say thank you to everybody,” said Hill, ending what would be his ninth total year on the council. Hill held the position from 1995 to 2001, far part of a term in 2004 and the most recent term starting in 2015. “All the employees of the city and all the citizens, thank you.”
“I’d like to say thanks to all the department heads and everyone in the city,” said Mayor Ball. “It was a good two years, kind of.”
“On behalf of all the citizens of Salamanca, I’d like to thank them for their job and their dedication they’ve done over the past two years,” said Tim Flanigan, R-Ward 2.
IN OTHER NEWS, Mayor Ball appointed Jackie Decker to the youth board to fill the unexpired term of Elaine Elsen, who passed away earlier this year. The term ends Feb. 28, 2018.
The council also approved the proposed figures for the first quarter of 2016-99H funds (casino revenue) and submit them to New York state.
The council also authorized the mayor/council to direct to the city comptroller to complete the police department retroactive pay for their new contract and to issue a check to the Seneca-Salamanca Chamber of Commerce for $15,000 for the Fireball Run by Dec. 22.
“If the chamber would like more money, they need to provide more information for reimbursement,” said Luke Stewart, R-Ward 5. “It’s up to the $25,000 that we originally earmarked for.”
