Centennial Park loan hearing survey results won't be released

Jan. 27—Mayor Robert Restaino's administration isn't going to release the results of a survey taken at the end of last month's public hearing on a proposal to borrow federal funds to cover property acquisition costs for the $150 million Centennial Park project.

During an interview this week with the Niagara Gazette, Restaino said Community Development Director Clifford Scott Jr. should not have distributed copies of the survey to individuals who attended the Dec. 22 hearing at city hall because he was not authorized to do so.

"We never authorized any survey," Restaino said.

Scott refused to answer questions about the survey, its distribution and the results to the administration and instead referred all questions to Restaino's office.

About 40 people attended the public hearing, with 17 of them signing up to speak. Nearly all of the speakers expressed opposition to the loan proposal, the Centennial Park project, or both.

At the end of the hearing, Scott distributed a survey, asking those in attendance to put down in writing whether they supported or opposed the idea of pursuing a federal loan to buy land for Centennial Park. At the time, Scott indicated that the survey results would be considered by city officials as part of the process of amending his department's four-year spending plan, a necessary step in allowing the city to submit an application under the U.S. Housing and Urban Development's Section 108 loan program.

On Dec. 28, six days after the public hearing, a majority of city lawmakers, including David Zajac, Ken Tompkins and Traci Bax, voted in favor of authorizing the amendment to the community development spending plan.

While the city is required under federal guidelines to hold a public hearing before authorizing a "substantial amendment" to the community development department's multi-year spending, Restaino said it is not required to obtain resident input through any sort of written survey.

"Ultimately, the decision is final with the council," Restaino said.

In addition, the mayor said a formal resident survey is not required under the parameters of the Section 108 loan program, which allows cities like Niagara Falls to borrow against future allotments of Community Development Block Grant funding to support larger-scale projects deemed to be a benefit to the public.

Restaino has said that a Section 108 loan is one of the mechanisms being considered by his administration as a way to finance the purchase of 12 acres of land, currently owned by the private firm Niagara Falls Redevelopment, for use as the site of Centennial Park. He told the Gazette this week that other options being explored include securing the necessary financing through private partners or municipal bonds.

"We're trying to do this acquisition in the most effective way so as not to impact residents, taxpayers," Restaino said. "That's always the goal. How do you do this in a way that doesn't have a negative impact on taxpayers?"

If the city does pursue a federal loan to purchase property for Centennial Park, it would come with a cost as the loan would need to be repaid, with interest over a period of 20 years, using a portion of the city's annual allotment of Community Development Block Grant funds. CDBG dollars are generally used for road repair, building demolition and other community enhancement efforts.

Restaino's administration has argued that using federal funds to advance the Centennial Park project represents a benefit to the city as a whole as the proposed "events campus," which would include an arena, an ice rink and outdoor adventure course and other amenities, would provide another attraction downtown and, hopefully, extend the tourism season into the fall and winter months.

He believes the proposed arena at Centennial Park would allow the city to attract concerts and other events that are now being held on a regular basis at other venues in the region, including KeyBank Center in Buffalo and Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, Ont.

"We have to give ourselves an opportunity to get into the game, to be able to at least draw attention to our side," he said.

Councilman Donta Myles, who has been an outspoken critic of the Centennial Park project, said he still has serious reservations about the city's ability to finance the project and its potential cost for operation if it ever gets built.

Myles believes the proposed federal loan to buy NFR's land would come at too high a price for residents who would lose a portion of CDBG dollars each year for two decades if the city does end up pursuing the Section 108 loan.

Myles said it was clear to him, following last month's public hearing, that a majority of residents do not support the idea either.

"It was like they just had a meeting just to have a meeting and just to check a box about any public feedback," he said.

He believes sharing the survey results would another level of transparency to the process. Failing to do so, he said, speaks volumes about the Restaino administration's ongoing efforts to "push through" the acquisition of the land for Centennial Park without having genuine discussions about whether residents believe it is in the city's best interests.

"My question is why would the public's concerns or the public's opinion or the opinion of your constituents not be authorized?," he said. "Why would that even be a problem?"