CITY OF LOCKPORT
Sewer/water line crew being formed
LOCKPORT — The city is forming a permanent six-man crew to work on water and sewer line repairs and replacements, the Common Council was told Wednesday.
The team of workers to be selected from the Highways and Parks, Water Maintenance and Sewer departments will make its debut next month on a sewer line replacement project on Massachusetts Avenue, Alderman Patrick W. Schrader said.
Director of Engineering Norman D. Allen said it would cost an estimated $170,000 to hire a contractor to replace two 250-foot lengths of sewer pipe on that street. The in-house work will cost an estimated $100,000 for materials, stone and fixtures.
The $70,000 saved will be enough to pay the salaries of two new laborers the city will hire for Highways and Parks to replace the men shifted from that department to the infrastructure crew, Allen said.
“The new hires will go to the garbage trucks,” said Schrader, D- 4th Ward.
“This has been a long time coming,” Mayor Michael W. Tucker said. “We’re finally going to have our own crew to do infrastructure repairs. We’ve neglected it for a long time.”
Tucker saluted water maintenance supervisor Alan Campisano and his team for their work on repairing Lockport’s notoriously leaky water lines, some of which date from the 19th century. In 2005, the city estimated that more than 40 percent of the water pumped to Lockport from the Niagara River was lost before reaching faucets.
“Today, the water loss is under 10 percent. The city hasn’t been that good in terms of water loss in many, many, many years,” Tucker said.
Schrader said Massachusetts Avenue residents will be informed when the work will begin.
On another topic, the Council voted to extend the moratorium on approval of new business signs until October and scrubbed a public hearing that was to have been held next week on a new sign law.
The ordinance isn’t done, although the Planning Board on Monday voted to submit a small amendment to the current law for discussion at the hearing.
The board will continue working on the sign ordinance in hopes of having it ready for the public hearing, which is to be rescheduled to Sept. 3. Tucker said the Council won’t vote until Sept. 17.
