Categories for In-Depth

Dec 11

2014

Scajaquada progress, at a price

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Engineers have told Cheektowaga it’s going to cost up to $53 million to update the town’s aging sewer system, which spews hundreds of million of gallons of sewage mixed with stormwater into local waterways every year. A number of options are under consideration, including lining leaky sewer lines and building underground storage tanks to hold sewage until it can be treated. The work could take up to a decade to complete and might require financing that would be subject to a referendum. The town is also considering steps that would end illegal connections of downspouts, basement drains and sump pumps[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Nov 26

2014

Troubled families, troubled services?

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Seven social workers on the front lines of dealing with troubled families have taken the unusual step of accusing their employer of cheating both taxpayers and the families they are tasked with helping. The social workers – who are employed by the Buffalo Urban League – sent a letter to the Erie County Comptroller’s office Nov. 14 expressing “extreme concern” that their organization was failing to live up to the standards agreed upon in its county contract. Their letter outlines a number of problems, including short staffing, inflated billing and a failure to store client information securely or train staff[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Nov 12

2014

Rochester leads on lead while Buffalo dallies

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Rochester used to have a lead problem at least as bad as Buffalo’s. But officials there got serious a decade ago and developed a program that’s considered a national model that some think Buffalo should emulate. Ralph Spezio, principal of an inner-city elementary school, was Rochester’s catalyst for change. Fifteen years ago he overheard two nurses talking about a pupil’s high blood lead level. “Then the other one said, ‘They are all lead poisoned,’” Spezio said. He was alarmed and wanted to know more. He signed a confidentiality agreement with the Monroe County Health Department and obtained lead test results[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Nov 12

2014

Another round of tax breaks for Summit Mall

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Declaring “jobs are jobs,” Niagara County officials voted Wednesday to grant $700,000 in tax breaks to redevelop a shopping mall that’s failed to make good on two previous subsidies. The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency voted unanimously to approve property and sales tax breaks to Toronto developer Zoran Cocov to assist his $17.4 million plan to revitalize Summit Mall in Wheatfield. Cocov’s application promises “entertainment venues” – museums and theaters – as well as shops, restaurants, a regional wine tasting outlet, a farmers’ market and a small business incubator, as reported Tuesday by Investigative Post. They would be joined by[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Nov 11

2014

Subsidies proposed for shopping mall

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Should the Summit Mall in Wheatfield enjoy a third round of taxpayer subsidies? The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency will consider a proposal Wednesday from a Toronto developer that calls for about $700,000 in property and sales tax breaks. The subsidies would go towards a $17 million renovation of the mall, which now stands largely vacant. State law generally prohibits industrial development agencies from granting tax breaks to retail projects, but the developer is contending its proposed mix of tenants would attract visitors from outside the region. Previous mall developers received about $2 million in tax breaks. Jim Heaney and[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Nov 11

2014

Buffalo is ‘ground zero’ for lead poisoning

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Young children in Erie County, mostly from Buffalo’s inner city, are testing positive for lead poisoning at more than triple the state average. As a result, hundreds of children enter Buffalo schools every year dealing with the impacts of lead poisoning, which can include lowered IQ and behavioral problems. The chief source of the problem is lead-based paint chips and dust in Buffalo’s old housing stock. “Buffalo is ground zero in the entire country for lead poisoning,” said David Hahn-Baker, a local environmental activist who has studied the lead problem for three decades. Yet City Hall treats lead poisoning as[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Nov 10

2014

Buffalo’s big lead poisoning problem

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Investigative Post, in the first of a three-part series, examines the danger posed by lead paint contamination in Buffalo. Buffalo children aged five and under test positive for lead poisoning at more than three times the state average. Erie County’s rate is the worst of the 11 counties that test 10,000 or more children a year. “Buffalo is ground zero in the entire country for lead poisoning,” said David Hahn-Baker, an environmental activist in Buffalo. Dr. Stanley Schaffer, director of the Western New York Lead Poisoning Resource Center in Rochester, said the consequences can be dire: Reduced IQ, learning disabilities and[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Oct 29

2014

Sabres score big subsidies at HarborCenter

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The Buffalo Sabres like to point out that HarborCenter, which opens later this week, is privately financed to the tune of $172.2 million. Left unsaid is that the complex is also publicly subsidized, enjoying an estimated $57 million in local and state tax breaks. That makes HarborCenter one of the most heavily subsidized downtown development projects in recent history. The project – which includes two ice rinks, a hotel, two restaurants, shops and a parking ramp – is projected to employ the equivalent of around 425 full-time workers. The $57 million in tax breaks works out to about $134,000 per[...]

Posted 11 years ago
Investigative Post