Town of Niagara Police expect renewed progress on home base modifications

By Timothy Chipp

Town of Niagara officials gave approval for $12,500 of masonry work to the west side of Town Hall to eliminate a major need affecting its police department.

Granto Glass Block Construction, of North Tonawanda, was officially chosen to complete work needed to finish the police department’s move to the former supervisor’s office that began earlier this year.

Town of Niagara Police Chief Craig Guiliani said the work will pave the way for a new door, which the department will receive Aug. 1, to be installed where only a brick wall currently exists.

It’s a modification to the building he says is about safety and security: for his officers, people suspected of crimes, and for those who wish to report instances.

“How it was set up before wasn’t very secure,” Guiliani said. “We’d have someone in line at the office reporting a (sensitive issue) with someone behind them paying a bill.”

Originally, work was set to begin in May, Guiliani said. The office space completed its renovation shortly after, allowing police officials to relocate without the separate entrance. But it did solve the security and privacy issues.

Still, the department needed to “parade” suspected criminals under arrest through the main hallways of Town Hall, Guiliani said.

Work on the door failed to proceed, though, after the original contractor hired to complete the work reported he was injured and unable to proceed, Guiliani said.

So, officials put out another request for bids and received one bid, from Granto Glass Block Construction, Guiliani said. The bid was actually lower than the second- and third-place bids from the original round.

“There aren’t that many masons out there to do the work,” Guiliani said.

He noted the door, once installed, will go a long way to furthering the department’s transformation from a room in Town Hall to the actual department headquarters he envisioned when Supervisor Sylvia Virtuoso approached him about making the switch before she officially took office at the start of 2024.

Meeting notes

•In other Town of Niagara news, council members approved financing a $240,000 purchase of a front-end loader requested by Highway Superintendent Richard Sirianni.

The machine, which will be paid over five years beginning one year after the purchase date, will also require approximately $43,000 in interest payments over the span of the financing period.

The new machine will be used for various tasks in the town’s highway barn, including loading salt in the winter.

Sirianni said during the town’s work session earlier this month that the current front-end loader has broken down three times since he took office toward the end of 2023.

•Finally, council members approved the creation of a liaison committee of Niagara businesses, meant to be a sounding board for the commercial community and the Town Board.

Member businesses are: The Fashion Outlets Niagara Falls USA, Stephanie Neal Insurance, LMG Awards and Trophies, Firth Jewelers, Joe Cecconi Chrysler Complex, American Glass, Tim Hortons, Judi’s Lounge, One Hemp Holistics, Workbea, and Cooper Sign Old Glory Flag.

“Please talk to your fellow business people and see what they need from the town,” Virtuoso said, addressing committee members in attendance Tuesday.

The Niagara Town Board will next meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20, at Town Hall, 7105 Lockport Road.