SALAMANCA — As most city buildings and parks remained closed in Salamanca, the Common Council recently discussed the possibility of waiving tax penalties for residents until the coronavirus pandemic begins to subside.
At the regular May 13 council meeting, the council approved extending the period of no penalties to late tax payment through June 30.
Before the council’s decision, City Comptroller Kathi Sarver recommended the city not penalize those paying their tax bills late because of so many businesses closed and people not working.
“A lot of them, especially the businesses, their tax bills are quite high, and if you add a penalty on top of it, that could be pretty rough,” she said.
Mayor Michael Smith agreed with Sarver, saying the couple months’ worth of lost interest would not hurt the city’s finances a lot and would send a positive message of looking out for the local businesses.
“How could we ask the Holy Cross Club to pay their bill when they haven’t been open?” he asked the council. “All of you vote, but I think it’s a thing we can do without really costing us a billion dollars.”
Originally, the council discussed an extended period of 90 days or to Aug. 1, but because no one is sure how soon the region would be opening up, council member Janet Koch, D-Ward 5, suggested the 30-day extension with the option to revisit it during the June council meeting.
“My suggestion would be to waive it until the end of June and then we can take further action again, take time to consider it and structure the motion in a very definitive way so people have no doubt what our intentions are,” offered City Attorney Eric Weyland.
IN OTHER BUSINESS, the council authorized Sandi Brundage, the city’s grant administrator, to submit a letter of interest to the New York State Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) to apply for grant funds to create a development plan for the city’s State Park Avenue property.
In 2019, Smith first proposed the idea of developing a campground site on upper State Park Avenue for visitors to park campers and RVs with close proximity to Allegany State Park and the Seneca Allegany Resort and Casino.
Council member Janet Koch, D-Ward 5, asked if the city was still planning to pursue the campground idea or something else, and wonder what the grant would specifically be for.
“We know the ARC grants are coming out and these are big infrastructure grants,” Brundage said. “I originally said we should look at a feasibility study, and then when we talked with them they said we should really look at a development grant so that we can look at what the plan would be and then be shovel ready to proceed.”
Brundage said the grants are up to $100,000, but the city’s application was for up to $50,000 in support from ARC with the rest coming from in-kind services or other contributions. She said the city has met with HUNT EAS for the possibility of helping the city successfully fill out the grant since the technical language can be difficult to master.
“If we are successful with this one, we could consider looking at other grant writing and engineering firms,” she said. “The letter of intent is just the first step. If you want me to pursue HUNT further, specifically for this grant, I can do that and have a proposal for the next meeting.”
“I think it makes a lot of sense to use somebody if that’s their thing,” added council member Tim Flanagin, R-Ward 2.
Council member Sandy Magiera, D-Ward 4, wondered if there had been any progress in discussions with the Seneca Nation about building an access road from the casino parking lot to State Park Avenue. Smith said that had not been explored further in recent months.
ALSO OF NOTE, the council declared 40 HP desktop computers surplus as they are of no further use to the city, authorized the transfer of seven computers to the Board of Public Utilities and the individual sale of 19 computers at $100 each and any remaining equipment be disposed of.
The computers for sale include both a hard drive tower and a monitor, which can be sold separately at $75 and $25 each, respectively. Keyboard and mice are also available.
Those interested in purchasing a used computer can contact City Clerk Traci Chamberlain at 945-4620.
(Contact managing editor Kellen Quigley at kquigleysp@gmail.com)
