CITY OF LOCKPORT: Tucker calls for better 'customer service'

By Joyce Miles<br><a href="mailto:joyce.miles@lockportjournal.com">E-mail Joyce</a>

Against a backdrop of tougher times, Mayor Michael Tucker has laid out a series of relatively modest goals for his administration in 2010.

The most substantive goal he’s setting for the year is total city charter review, by the mayor’s dormant Citizen Advisory Board, he told members of Lockport Rotary Club during his annual State of the City address Tuesday at Lockport Town & Country Club.

Tucker also called for updating of the city’s master plan, zoning and planning ordinances.

“Some of our current provisions are over 100 years old and simply outdated and unrealistic to address the challenges of today,” he said. “These are not easy tasks, they are time consuming and difficult, but necessary to adequately prepare our city for the decades ahead.”

The city charter is like a municipal constitution, in that it establishes the set-up of city government: wards, administration, elective and appointed leaders, civic boards and their powers.

While it has been amended from time to time, such as last month when the Common Council approved adding fifth seats on the police and fire boards, the charter today still contains some 19th century remnants. One section regulates the speed of horses on Main Street; another empowers aldermen to make citizens’ arrests.

Tucker said he plans to reactivate the Citizen Advisory Board, which last met in 2006, to suggest improvements in city refuse service delivery, and charge it with recommending changes throughout the charter. He’ll be looking for 15 to 20 residents to serve, he added; whether the group goes beyond striking antiquated language and proposes tinkering with government structure — the size of the Council and terms of elective service, for example — remains to be seen.

Tucker said he will not ask the Council to hold off debating term limits for the mayor and aldermen, a charter change newly proposed by 4th Ward Alderman Andrew Chapman, for total charter review. The Council is expected to authorize a Feb. 3 public hearing date on Chapman’s proposal during its business meeting tonight.

Other goals that Tucker listed for 2010, in pursuit of what he called improved “customer service” by the city, include:

• Enhancing the city’s Web site, elockport.com, to allow “live” hot-line reporting of residents’ non-emergency concerns, such as potholes, trash and tree-trimming issues.

• Setting up City Hall to accept online and credit-card payment of property tax and water bills.

• Continued attention to quality-of-life issues, including parks maintenance and youth and senior citizen outreach.

• Landing a “cost effective” citywide curbside recycling program for residents “In a reasonable period of time.”

Seeing renovation of the Flight of Five canal locks to completion remains Tucker’s No. 1 priority, he said, but some big-ticket aspirations he’s identified in previous annual addresses — including reconstruction of the municipal parking garage at Main and Pine streets — are taking a back seat to fiscal reality. Tucker pledged to continue pursuing grant funding for a $10 million parking garage makeover but did not commit to a project on anything other than a someday basis.

Considering the drift coming out of Albany — look for reduced state aid to municipalities and another whopping municipal employee pension liability bill later this year — the administration’s charge this year is to line up long-term municipal cost reductions, Tucker said. Negotiations with employee unions last year won the city the freedom to pursue private refuse collection and share assessing and fire communication services with other public agencies. Now the hunt is on for additional ways to retain city services at less cost, he added.

“I understand that city taxpayers are struggling in these tough economic times and we must remain focused on keeping taxes down ... . We must be prepared to trim our budget, promote attrition and begin changing the way services are provided within our city.”

Landmark ID process to begin soon

One bright spot for the city is that it has just been designated a “certified local government” by New York state, Tucker said. The designation means it can start the process of getting properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The city has a historic preservation ordinance in place and now must identify candidates for listing. It will do so by commissioning a series of architectural surveys, to find properties that are potentially preservation-worthy for architectural/design attributes or as places linked with a significant event, notable people or heritage. A local Historic Preservation Board will recommend individual properties and historic “districts” based on the surveys.

The first survey, a three-year “reconnaissance” study of the city in thirds to identify properties needing closer study, could begin this year, according to Historic Preservation Board Chairman Robert Hagen. A request for proposals from architectural firms will be released soon, he said. Part of the survey cost will be paid from a $15,000 grant awarded the city with the Certified Local Government designation.

According to the historic preservation ordinance, once properties are designated landmarks, their owners aren’t allowed to make any exterior changes unless they have the preservation board’s approval. Owners are not compelled to restore original features, but they are required to perform enough maintenance to prevent them from being lost. Allowing deterioration of outer walls, roofs, chimneys, foundations, stucco or mortar on landmarks, or failing to waterproof their base features, is considered a crime.

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