Lewiston Town Board discusses drainage, tentative new budget

By Editor-in-Chief Terry Duffy

Preelection issues occupied portions of a lengthy Lewiston Town Board regular meeting on Monday. Topics discussed included sewer/drainage concerns and updates; repairs to the Lewiston Public Library; a Lower River Road traffic study; and presentation of the 2027 tentative town budget, among others.

All said, a busy evening at Town Hall.

Drainage cleanup

Creek Road resident Linda Scalzo, one of seven who spoke during public statements, voiced concerns over what she called the town’s lack of response to ongoing drainage problems affecting her home and neighborhood.

“I’m going to ask the same question (as others): What is being done about the sewer? What is being done about the issues at my house that I’ve emailed you about?” she said. “And when the next flood comes, (the sewer) backs up, what are we doing? Will we have any responses? We ask this every month, so hopefully sometime soon.”

The resident went on to fault Lewiston Water Pollution Control Center Superintendent Jeff Ritter and Highway Department Superintendent Mike Weiss on what she asserted was a lack of attention.

“So, who is fixing my problem?” she asked.

“Well, you don’t have to wait to ask here,” Town Supervisor Steve Broderick said.

He advised the resident that town sewer and water operations are “two different things” and managed differently.

“The Highway Department oversees all drainage issues, and he’s right here,” Broderick said, gesturing to Weiss.

Weiss discussed town work approved via a state Department of Transportation permit, intended to alleviate drainage problems in the Morgan Farms neighborhood. He then proposed to put a planned cleanup project in the area out to bid. Targeted work would include the westside drainage ditch adjacent to the bike path along the Niagara Scenic Parkway.

“(The DOT) permit for was cleaning the ditch on the westside of our bike path from Mohawk to Pletcher (roads), approximately 2¼ miles,” Broderick said.

He explained the ditch-cleaning work includes tree removal and land clearing and was considered too time-consuming for town highway workers, who are also managing a range of milling/paving work, townwide brush clearing, ditch work and other tasks prior to winter.

Soon after, the board voted to allow Weiss to pursue a sealed bid for the ditch cleaning with Town Attorney Alfonso Marra Bax to oversee the details.

Also approved was a bid requested by engineer Robert Lannon Jr., project director of GHD Consultants, for design work totaling $75,500 on drainage ditches in the Morgan Farms neighborhood. According to Lannon, the work will focus on Morgan Drive, from the west intersection of Greenfield Road to West Park Drive.

“It’s about 2,500 linear feet on Greenfield, about 1,500 linear feet on Sandalwood, (and) about 1,100 to West Park. That’s a whisker under 6,000 linear feet,” he said.

He said planning continues by GHD to determine the best pipe sizes for the project – with ideal diameters between 18 to 24 inches for 50-year rain events. Total spending would be $69,500 for the design phase and $6,200 for the bid phase by GHD.

“We’ll take it through the whole process – bidding, putting it out to bid, everything,” Lannon said.

Town Board members went on to approve the GHD proposal as presented, with funding to come from the town’s H-97 infrastructure account. Board members tabled a separate GHD bid for work in the Perry Court area.

2027 tentative budget

Town Board members received the 2027 tentative budget from Finance/Budget Director Jacqueline Agnello. Broken down, the budget contains $16,551,426 in appropriations spending and $401,071 to be raised by taxes.

As to the actual tax levy, it finds the following:

•A, Lewiston general (whole town tax) – $3,478,540 in appropriations and $300,247 to be raised by taxes, a decrease of 0.9455%. The proposed tax rate is $0.1172, a decrease of 65.04%.

•B, Lewiston general/outside village – $4,903,075 in appropriations and $0 to be raised by taxes.

•DB highway/drainage, (part town tax – town outside village) – $5,519,513 in appropriations and $100,824 to be raised by taxes, a decrease of 1.1025%. The proposed tax rate is $0.0484, a change of 64.76%.

•SS1 Water Pollution Control Center – $2,650,298 in appropriations and $0 to be raised by taxes.

Under special districts spending, the budget includes $7,486,433 in appropriations and $3,418,253 to be raised by taxes.

As to the actual tax levy, the budget finds the following:

•S10 French Landing drainage – $5,350 in appropriations and $0 to be raised by taxes.

•SF fire protection – $1.749,595 in appropriations and $1,681,595 to be raised by taxes, a decrease of 0.8416%. The proposed tax rate is $0.7844, a decrease of 64.42%.

•SL Lewiston Heights gas – $12,000 in appropriations and $12,000 to be raised by taxes.

•SR refuse – Lewiston O/S village – $848,716 in appropriations, $6,000 in appropriated fund balance and $477,716 to be raised by taxes.

•SS2 Lewiston MSIA – $1,798,518 in appropriations, $1,588,678 in revenues and $209,840 to be raised by taxes, a decrease of 0.1855%. The proposed tax rate is $0.0346, a decrease of 58.59%.

•SS3 Lewiston south sewer IA – $199,693 in appropriations, $139,882 in revenues and $59,811 to be raised by taxes, a decrease of 0.6874%. The proposed tax rate is $0.2698, a decrease of 58.18%.

•SW1 Lewiston water improvement – $3,237,561 in appropriations, $2,265,620 in revenues and $971,941 to be raised by taxes, a decrease of 0.0224%. The proposed tax rate is $0.4008, a decrease of 59.84%.

Budget totals are $24,037,859 (appropriations and special districts), with a combined total of $3,819,324 to be raised by taxes.

The total assessed valuation for the Village and Town of Lewiston, as per the budget, is $2,560,938,165. This reflects the 100% valuation of all town/village properties.

For more information on the 2027 tentative budget, visit www.townoflewistonny.gov.

Lewiston Public Library repairs

Moving on, the board approved repair work at the Lewiston Public Library, intended to address roof leaks and insulation problems plaguing the South Eighth Street building that was completed in the early 2000s. Earlier this year, library trustees approached the board with leakage concerns in the building said to be affecting services.

The town appointed Williamsville’s Mussachio Architects to conduct design work on the building, totaling approximately $45,000.

“Based on findings from the Lewiston Library Building envelope assessment, dated Aug. 18, 2026, the architect and its team will identify solutions to the problematic existing conditions delineated in said report, that are manifesting as vapor and water intrusion into the building envelope and ice damming the roof,” stated a proposal from Jill Palermo, library director.

Town Board members signed off on the plan to finance the design work, not to exceed $45,000 times 10% of the total project cost. Funding will come from the town’s H-98 NYPA energy account.

Other library work approved by the town was a quote for $27,277 from Greater Niagara Mechanical to replace a Lennox RTU heating/ventilation unit in the children’s area. Broderick said library trustees are also seeking grant assistance to complete the work prior to winter weather. Town funding will come from the H-98 account that also covers emergency heating projects.

New local law

In more news from the session:

•The meeting opened with a public hearing to consider Local Law No. 5 of 2026. The measure is titled, “a local law imposing a temporary moratorium on the acceptance, processing, approval, construction, installation and operation of battery storage systems, including battery energy storage systems associated with commercial solar energy storage systems associated with commercial solar energy systems and stand-alone battery energy storage facilities.”

The law’s purpose is to provide the Town Board time “to research and adopt new laws to more efficiently regulate applications for such uses within the town.” There were no comments heard at the public hearing and the measure, along with a SEQRA type 2 action, were both approved by the Town Board. The moratorium covers a period of six months.

•Resident Jenelle Tower addressed the board on traffic accidents affecting areas of Lower River Road from the Village of Lewiston to the Village of Youngstown. She presented a petition seeking town action to address these accidents on the county-maintained and state DOT-managed roadway.

“We need the Town Board to stand with us as our advocates to help us get the county to make lifesaving changes to the road,” Tower said.

She presented a Lewiston Police Department survey that found “over 50% of vehicles are speeding, with hundreds travelling well over 50 mph.”

Tower said, “Join us in petitioning Niagara County and the New York State DOT for a unified corridor safety study from village to village” and for release of pertinent accident data.

She also requested Lewiston Highway crews address “priority maintenance” of overgrown brush areas; for the town to work with Niagara County on making “structural changes” to the roadway; and for high-visibility speed enforcement by the LPD.

“You have the power to help us to prevent a tragedy,” Tower said.

Later in the session, the Town Board approved a Broderick resolution for complete traffic safety speed study by Niagara County on Lower River Road. Targeted areas will be from the Village of Lewiston line to the town line at Joseph Davis State Park, with the remainder to be considered by the Town of Porter.