Lewiston Town Board hears on library funding, OKs energy attorney

by Larry Austin
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, April 30, 2005

The math problem of funding the Lewiston Library has an answer.

Lewiston Town Councilman John Ceretto reported during Monday night’s Town of Lewiston Board meeting that the Lewiston Library Board of Trustees has accepted an opinion from the state, saying both the town and village should share in providing library funding.

“They feel very comfortable that the state’s telling them that under their charter they’re a village-town library, and because of that the payment for the village should be based on population,” Ceretto said.

“They’ve already sent a letter to the village with this request,” Ceretto said.

March 25 Letter

In a letter to the village board dated March 25, Library Board President Robert Presutti requested $90,000, or 25 percent of the library’s anticipated expenses for the upcoming fiscal year.

Presutti said the Department of Library Development in Albany determined the Lewiston Library is a town/village library and dependent on both municipalities for funding. The department recommended proportional funding by the municipalities based on population, which affirms a position long held by the town in its dispute with the library board.

“I’m glad that they’re doing this,” Lewiston Town Councilman D. James Langlois said. “If you will recall that we had the 60-40, which was the only legitimate split according to the various lawyers that looked at this. And we tried to negotiate a lower number down to perhaps 75-25 or 67-33 with the village board, and they just said, ‘No, we like paying zero.’ ”

Village-Library Board Issue

The matter is now one between the village and the library board, Newlin said.

“Let’s see if they’ll put that in their budget,” Langlois said of the village board.

“I think now that the village budget process has begun, that’s why this is coming to the forefront,” Newlin said.

The library board has complained to the town for several years about a lack of funding. The board tried to establish a special district last year, which would have established a special district tax, but the measure failed at the polls in a public referendum.

Ceretto reflected later he felt things would work out between the parties, and that the library issue ultimately would be resolved for the best interest of Lewiston residents.

Energy Attorney Retained

In another matter, the town board also approved the minutes of a late-night executive session held April 11. During that executive session, which followed a work session and did not wrap up until 11:30 p.m., the board authorized spending $3,000 to hire Paul Nolan, an energy attorney, to represent Lewiston in matters regarding Power Authority relicensing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The $3,000 figure covers Nolan’s legal services to the town for a 10-15 hour period. Additional costs could follow.

The voted passed 4-0-1, with Ceretto abstaining. Ceretto, who was out of town on the night of April 11, said at Monday’s meeting he wants to see the justification for spending the money.

"I want to be convinced that when we spend this money we're spending it wisely," Ceretto said, pointing out he had serious concerns on Nolan’s long-term potential legal costs to the town, which ....which according to Nolan’s April 4 budget and schedule draft to the town, could amount to upwards of $150,000 to $200,000 over a period of 20 to 24 months extending to May 2007.

Town Voice

Newlin said hiring Nolan allows the town to have a voice in the federal relicensing process.

“Essentially, it puts us in the communication loop,” said Newlin. “The town will have access to any hearings or documents that go back and forth between FERC and the Power Authority.”

Nolan is working as a consultant for the town’s attorneys.

“We’ve heard good things about him from a variety of sources. He’s certainly up to speed on energy matters,” Newlin said. “And I think it helps protect the town interests in this very crucial negotiation.”

The move complements, rather than competes with, the town’s work with the Niagara Power Coalition, Newlin added.

“Because the town has so many individual issues that it has to focus on that are apart from the Power Coalition, I think it behooves us to maintain our rights as an individual entity within the FERC relicensing,” Newlin said.