At least one member of the Niagara Falls City Council wants to delay a vote on a proposed settlement involving four lawsuits between the city and Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR).
But a majority of the council appears ready to move ahead on approving the proposed settlement at a regularly scheduled meeting later today.
Councilwoman Bridgette Myles told the Gazette on Tuesday she thinks the council should give it at least a few more weeks before voting on the 88-page settlement, which would end various legal disputes between the city and the company.
Myles said she personally wants more time to consider all of the elements of the deal and believes residents, including those who have concerns about the data center aspect of the agreement, should be granted the same consideration.
“I would say at least postpone it until July,” Myles said. “That’s not going to make or break us.”
Myles said she received a full copy of the proposed settlement on Sunday as part of what the city’s lead attorney — Corporation Counsel Tom DeBoy — describes as the “tentative” agenda and packet of materials for this week’s council meeting.
The council packet, with the full settlement details included, did not post to the city’s website until after 4 p.m. Tuesday, a little over 24 hours before Wednesday’s council meeting, where city lawmakers are expected to consider authorizing the agreement as part of their regular agenda.
Given the potential cost to taxpayers and the involvement of what’s considered by many to be a controversial plan to build a data center downtown, Myles said residents should be given more time to review the settlement details before any formal council vote.
“We work for the people,” she said. “We’re the representatives that the people trust to do their due diligence and do our research and it’s not fair to them.”
Other council members confirmed to the Gazette that city lawmakers had been briefed on the proposed settlement by the city’s outside counsel handling the Centennial Park and data center projects lawsuits two weeks ago. They said the terms of the settlement were explained to them and they had an opportunity to question attorney Daniel Spitzer on the details of the proposal.
As the newspaper reported on Tuesday, the settlement calls for NFR to “donate” land tied to Mayor Robert Restaino’s plan to develop a $210 million arena and events campus called Centennial Park at 10th and Falls streets, just off John B. Daly Boulevard.
In exchange for the property, the settlement, if approved by the council, would commit the city to paying the company $4.029 million as “reimbursement of costs and expenses incurred by NFR in connection with the donated property.” It is unclear where the city would draw the $4 million needed to cover the payment to NFR; however, the Gazette has been told casino funds could be a possibility.
In addition, the city would be required to help NFR fulfill “all obligations and duties” related to NFR’s interest in building a $1.5 billion data center known as the Niagara Digital Campus in the same area of the city.
Myles said she does not believe the location is the right one for a large-scale data center. She also said she feels like the administration is “rushing into” a settlement with NFR while pressuring the council to approve it under threat of prolonging an already years-long legal fight with NFR.
“It’s an agreement, so once we approve it, it is real,” she said.
Council Member James Perry said he’s prepared to vote to accept the settlement agreement, saying it does not guarantee the construction of the NFR digital campus.
“I’m going to vote for it,” Perry said. “… it’s a vote (to approve) the (Planned Unit Development) PUD. The data center (site plan) will still need to go before the city planning board.”
Perry said he wanted to “move the city forward” by approving the settlement.
Councilman Vincent Cauley said he’s open to the idea of delaying a vote on the settlement; however, he is also inclined to support accepting it at some point because the alternative involves continuing to battle NFR in court at taxpayer expense.
Cauley described accepting the settlement as “mitigating the disaster” Restaino created the day he announced plans to build Centennial Park on NFR’s land.
“We lost,” he said. “We as a community. The people lost. We were going to lose the moment he said he wanted to take that land. We are going to pay them either way.”
Cauley said he’s not concerned that the settlement would allow for public input as NFR’s data center plan continues to develop. While the settlement does call on the city to “cause its boards, councils and agencies to act promptly and fairly upon all applications for permits, variances and/or approvals necessary for the project,” Cauley said that does not mean the process won’t involve public hearings or other steps traditionally required as part of data center developments.
“There will still be all the normal processes. The farm is not being given up, but we are crying uncle,” he said.
Council Member David Zajac also expressed general support for approving the settlement.
“A two-project solution is something I’ve always been in favor of,” Zajac said.
He called the proposed settlement a “framework” for both the Centennial Park and digital campus projects to move forward.
“It’s a starting point for that,” Zajac said. “No shovels are going into the ground tomorrow, or Thursday or Friday. It’s the start of the process to see what’s reality and what’s not.”
Council Chair Brian Archie also said he doesn’t think it’s necessary to take more time to weigh the pros and cons of the settlement and is inclined to vote in favor of its approval. He said council members were provided with “substantive information” about the contents of the agreement two weeks ago and, in his opinion, have had enough time to consider whether or not it makes sense for the city.
Like Cauley, Archie said he views the settlement as a way to put an end to recent legal battles with NFR.
“I would lean to the affirmative on approving this so these people can start getting out of each other’s way to allow these projects to move forward,” he said. “Continuing to spend needless money the city doesn’t have to stay in court doesn’t make sense to me.”
He also said that while the agreement does require the city to take steps to help NFR advance its data center, it is not a way for the company to bypass normal procedures for developing that type of project.
“They still can’t just go and build a data center,” he said. “They still can’t just say, ‘Oh we have this data center and we can just go do it.’ That hasn’t been the process in any municipality that’s had a data center, so I would expect there would be further conversation as to whatever it looks like as this moves along.”