New Village of Lewiston mayor, board set goals for next year

Trustees vote on appointments at annual organizational meeting

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

Upon being sworn into office on Monday, new Village of Lewiston Mayor Dan Cota and his board – including new Deputy Mayor Tina Coppins and Trustee Leandra Collesano – set their sights on some lofty new initiatives intended to increase communication between elected leaders and community members.

Far from easing into their first term in office together, these board members – and returning trustees Nick Conde and Jim Fittante – voted to create new committees and review systems.

New committees

•The teen advisory committee was set in place as “the Village of Lewiston seeks to provide opportunities for youth to participate in community discussions, share ideas, and offer recommendations on village programs, events, public spaces, and other community initiatives, while fostering civic engagement, leadership, volunteerism, and community involvement.”

Per the approved motion, “the committee shall determine its own membership and leadership structure, with administrative support and coordination provided through the village recreation director, so that youth members are given a meaningful opportunity to develop civic participation, leadership, responsibility, and self-governance.”

This group will report to the Village Board on a quarterly basis.

Cota explained, “This is important, I believe, in developing teens and starting to build a feed line for us to have more community- and civic-minded people.”

He noted the committee is open to Village of Lewiston youth ages 10-17. Those chosen will work with Recreation Director Brendan McDermott.

“If we didn’t have such a strong person in that position, I don’t think this teen initiative would be able to go forward as quickly as it’s going to be moving forward,” Cota said of McDermott.

He emphasized, “It’s about their voice; it’s not about duplicating us.”

•The master plan advisory committee was created because “the Village of Lewiston recognizes the importance of long-range planning to guide future growth, development, infrastructure investment, land use, environmental stewardship, economic development, and community quality of life. … The current master plan should be reviewed and updated to reflect changing community needs, demographic trends, economic conditions, and resident priorities. … Meaningful public participation and stakeholder engagement are essential components of a successful planning process.”

This group will assist “in the development, review and recommendation of an updated master plan for the Village of Lewiston.” The committee will have seven members, each one appointed by trustees and “representing a diverse cross-section of the community, including residents, business owners, property owners, community organizations, and other stakeholders as deemed appropriate.”

Village of Lewiston Mayor Dan Cota is sworn into office Monday by the Hon. Hugh Gee. Cota was joined by his wife, Francesca; and by their daughter, Remi.

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The enacted motion notes the committee “shall serve in an advisory capacity only and shall make recommendations to the Village Board of Trustees, which retains final authority regarding adoption of the master plan. … The committee shall remain in existence until completion of the master plan update process, unless otherwise extended or dissolved by action of the Village Board of Trustees.”

Cota said, “This is something that we’ve been talking about for a while. We’re going to get moving on it.”

He said the village will look to identify people interested in contributing ideas, particularly stakeholders such as members of the fishing industry, local business owners and the Upward Niagara Chamber of Commerce.

“Master planning and looking at everything entails everything all the way from how the streets are landscaped and set up and designed, to how pedestrians cross them, to our zoning across the village and whether or not it’s working any longer,” Cota said. “It’s a lot of impact in a lot of different areas. But it’s important to get it done, and get it done right, with a lot of community feedback.”

He said every part of the process will be open to the public.

“Everybody will have a say, and I would really appreciate everybody saying something,” Cota said.

New initiatives

Village Board members also voted to authorize two new initiatives:

•The waterfront improvement, dock system review, and fishing industry support initiative authorizes the mayor “to conduct a comprehensive review of the existing dock system, immediate waterfront access needs, and potential long-term waterfront improvements, including whether simply repairing the docks in the same design is the most responsible approach or whether a different long-term solution is needed to avoid a yearly cycle of costly repairs.

“This review shall also include improvements that support public access, boating, and the fishing industry, which generates roughly $5 million per year in regional economic activity and contributes to the overall year-round health of the village economy.

“This authorization permits the gathering of information, public input, cost estimates, and funding opportunities only.” No capital expenditures or contracts were or will be authorized by this motion.

•A North Eighth Street and Center Street commercial development review permits the mayor “to conduct a comprehensive legal, administrative, planning, zoning, building, occupancy, infrastructure and financial impact review of the (North) Eighth Street and Center Street commercial development” – the Ellicott Development/Tim Hortons/Quest Diagnostics plaza at 780-790 Center St. – “and return to the Village Board with findings and recommendations for future consideration.

“This authorization permits the gathering of records, legal review, public input, professional input, timelines, cost information, compliance information, and recommendations only.”

No enforcement action, capital expenditure, contract, litigation or outside professional service was authorized by this motion.

Cota said this is a fact-finding mission: “We have a lot of anecdotal assumptions; we have a lot of bits and pieces that are kind of spread out. I want to get it into a single place and a single interpretation.”

Village of Lewiston Deputy Mayor Tina Coppins is sworn into office Monday by the Hon. Hugh Gee. Coppins was joined by her husband, Peter; and by their sons, Avery and Ryan.

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Checks & balances

In addition to bolstering communication, Cota said the new committees and initiatives were established because, “I believe in checks and balances on the mayor, just as much as checks and balances on anything else.”

He said his ideas will not exist in a vacuum. Rather, the plans he puts forward will be guided by the Village Board.

“It could be handled administratively – it’s not my style,” Cota said.

Village of Lewiston Trustee Leandra Collesano is sworn into office Monday by the Hon. Hugh Gee. Collesano was joined by her father, Terry Collesano, who served two terms as mayor and 12 years as deputy mayor.

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Appointments

The Village Board approved the following positions:

•The mayor’s appointment of Clerk Shannon Fundis, Treasurer Stephanie Longwell and Deputy Clerk Donna Cassick to a four-year term of office (until July 1, 2030); and Coppins for a one-year term as deputy mayor.

•The reappointments of:

√ Joseph Leone as law counsel, Nussbaumer & Clarke Inc. as the municipal engineering firm, Longwell as registrar, Fundis as deputy registrar, and Russell Piper as historian for a one-year term.

√ Abigail Stein and Kenneth Bedore to the Zoning Board of Appeals, and Loretta Frankovitch to the Historic Preservation Commission, each with a five-year term.

√ Richard Haight, Nicholas Schaefer and Scott Lewandowski to the Planning Commission for a two-year term; and Kiley Poletti and Denham Wilson to the Parks, Recreation and Conservation Board for a two-year term.

•The Niagara County Tribune/Sentinel (aka Lewiston-Porter Sentinel) as the official newspaper of the Village of Lewiston.

•Trustees will work with the following community agencies:

√ Administration: Cota, liaison/Coppins, alternate liaison

√ Personnel: Fittante/Conde

√ Upward Niagara Chamber of Commerce: Cota/Fittante

√ Beautification: Coppins/Collesano

√ Artpark: Coppins/Collesano

√ Lewiston Council on the Arts: Collesano/Conde

√ Law enforcement: Coppins/Conde

√ Firefighting: Coppins/Conde

√ Recreation, parks and environment: Coppins/Conde

√ Planning Board: Cota/Fittante

√ ZBA: Cota/Fittante

√ Department of Public Works: Fittante/Conde

√ Community Sewer Commission: Fittante/Conde

√ American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars: Cota/Collesano

√ Lewiston Public Library: Cota/Collesano

√ Historical Preservation Commission: Coppins/Collesano

√ Master plan advisory committee: Cota/Fittante

√ Teen advisory committee: Cota/Collesano

Meetings

Municipal meetings will continue on as previously scheduled inside the Red Brick Municipal Building, 145 N. Fourth St.:

•The Village Board of Trustees will gather at 6 p.m. on the first Monday of the month for work sessions (October-May, except the September meeting shall be on the first Tuesday); and the third Monday of each month for regular meetings (September through August, but with the January and February 2027 meetings on the third Tuesday).

•The Historical Preservation Commission will meet at 6 p.m. on the second Monday of each month (save October, when it falls on the second Tuesday). The Planning Board meeting will immediately follow.

•The ZBA will assemble at 6:30 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month (except November and December, where meetings will be on the third Tuesday).

•A special meeting of the Village Board may be called by the mayor or, in the absence of the mayor, the deputy mayor – and the clerk shall contact each member of the board, plus the news media and public – as required by the open meetings law.

Click HERE to see the full agenda and new committee addendums.

Also

Trustees voted to table consideration of matching non-union employee benefits to those of full-time union employees until a new collective bargaining agreement is executed. The matter is slated to be revisited at the next board meeting.

The Village of Lewiston Board of Trustees. From left: Nick Conde, Leandra Collesano, Mayor Dan Cota, Deputy Mayor Tina Coppins and Jim Fittante.