Village of Lewiston approves construction bid for North Ninth Street waterline project

Memorial Day parade and luncheon set to return

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

At Monday’s Village of Lewiston work session, trustees approved a motion awarding the North Ninth Street water system improvements project to DJM Contracting Inc. The construction cost is $278,000.

A municipal request for proposals explained, “The project involves transferring of (20) water services on North 9th Street from an existing 6-inch watermain to an existing 12-inch watermain. The project also includes the installation of five watermain interconnections to service side streets off of the existing 12-inch watermain. Additional items include the installation of one 12-inch insertion valve, installation of one new hydrant assembly, installation of a two waterline spool pieces as part of decommissioning, and installation of various valves and fittings.”

The area to be upgraded extends from the corner of Onondaga Street to the Mohawk Street intersection.

“A long time (coming),” Deputy Mayor Vic Eydt said. “A lot of back and forth, and I’m glad we’re finally getting this done.”

Mayor Anne Welch said, “The people on Ninth Street, I’m sure, will be very satisfied with this done. No more digging up their street (following breaks).”

Following the meeting, she explained, “The water lines on Ninth Street are so antiquated they break (often). Every time they go to fix one section, as soon as they cover it up, another section breaks because they're just so old and they've been broken so many times.”

She added, “The Ninth Street problem has been like that for years; and we've been going to fix it, and going to fix it, and going to fix it. When we got the stimulus money, we figured we'd use that to fix it.

“It's basically just that line on Ninth Street that feeds the houses. It still feeds the village, but it's just broken so many times.”

See Eydt’s guest edit for related information.

The DJM Contracting website states, “Our president, Daniel Munich, was a project manager for a heavy highway company on large heavy highway projects from bridges to total road reconstruction projects. He was also an engineer for a world-wide engineering firm for many years as well as a design/field engineer on many water/sewer projects and roads.

“Daniel received his B.S. for Civil Engineering from R.I.T and has over 20 years experience in the construction field. Most of his experience includes geotechnical engineering projects dealing with foundation design, embankments, creek stabilization and soil determination.

“Daniel was vice president of operations over a company of approximately 20 employees that worked with water, sewer, paving and road reconstruction.

“DJM Contracting employees also have extensive experience and expertise in all areas of construction, including residential projects such as concrete driveways.”

DJM Contracting is associated with C&C Contractors of Cowlesville.

Memorial Day 2022 at the "Circle of Honor"

••••••••

Return of Memorial Day Parade & Luncheon

The Village Board approved the Memorial Day Remembrance Committee’s request to host a parade along Center Street from 10:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Monday, May 29; and a luncheon from 1-4 p.m. inside Academy Park.

Neither event has been held since 2019.

“It’ll be nice to see that again this year,” Welch said.

Of course, all festivals and most events were shelved in 2020. Committee members were not able to move forward in 2021, either. Lingering coronavirus infections and fear of closures impeded spring planning and fundraising efforts. They canceled again last year because of proximity to the July 4 weekend bicentennial parade.

Welch acknowledged the late Jerry Wolfgang was involved in directing past Memorial Day parades. Without him, the committee has consulted Town of Lewiston Councilman Bill Geiben, who helped organize the bicentennial parade.

In between the parade and luncheon will be a Memorial Day observation at the “Circle of Honor” monument in Academy Park. Veterans of Foreign Wars Downriver Post 7487 will coordinate the ceremony.

In Other News

Also at Monday’s meeting, trustees approved:

•A motion to schedule a public hearing at 6 p.m. Monday, April 17, to adopt the 2023-24 budget. Trustees will meet two times before that night to hammer out a proposal for the public.

•Moving David Giusiana from a Historic Preservation Commission alternate to a full board member, filling the unexpired term of Susan Hofert until June 2027.

•Granting a one-year tenant lease to Maureen Kellick for use of room No. 8 on the Red Brick Municipal Building’s third floor.

•A request made by YMCA of Buffalo Niagara to host fitness classes at Academy Park at 10 a.m. Sundays, June 4-July 9; July 23 and 30; and Aug. 13-27.

•Boy Scouts of America Troop 855 placing flags at the intersections on Center Street, from Fourth to Ninth streets. Installation would occur in mid-May – prior to Memorial Day weekend.

Requested items include 25 U.S. flags ($98.75), six flagpoles ($101.70) and six brackets ($62.70). ($263.15 total.) The village has $300 in a budget line to pay for this initiative.