Village of Lewiston working to add 'Hometown Heroes' banners; tweaking water safeguards

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

“Hometown Heroes” banners are closer to flying in the Village of Lewiston – though no consensus has been reached on size, shape or specific location for the military tribute flags.

Forward progress was marked, however, following a discussion that took place at Monday’s municipal work session. Veterans of Foreign Wars Down River Post 7487 Cmdr. Paul J. Harrigan, Ph.D., shared a PowerPoint presentation with the Board of Trustees, showing potential placement sites and a preferred size.

Quartermaster Vince Canosa noted approximately 48 “Hometown Heroes” banners have been sold to families of local veterans and armed forces members.

Harrigan said, “Our heart set is to have them Center Street for the reasons of people enjoying that.”

Department of Public Works Superintendent Anthony Mang recommended the VFW use the non-National Grid light posts from Ninth Street to Sixth Street, and from Fourth Street to the waterfront.

“There are 72 lamp poles between Ninth and Sixth Street,” he said. “We would ultimately like to see nothing past that point, because the business district is already very, very congested. So, what we had suggested was every other pole between Ninth and Sixth Street, every other pole between Fourth Street and the river, and then, just from my department standpoint, I could give you every pole at the waterfront.”

“That all sounds real nice,” Harrigan said.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Down River Post 7487 Cmdr. Paul J. Harrigan, Ph.D., addresses the Village of Lewiston Board at Monday’s work session.

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The VFW has looked into 18-by-36-inch banners – either vinyl or an all-weather ACM composite material similar to what is used for street signs. This size might have to be trimmed, though, as the village code requires an 8-feet clearance from the bottom of the banner.

Whatever the measurement might be, the banners will have a brace along their bottom edge to provide additional support.

The sturdier, free-hanging signs carry a three-year warranty – “and they're actually cheaper than the vinyl banners,” Harrigan said.

Trustee Tina Coppins said, “I think more-durable is better.”

She requested a sign sample. Harrigan said one could be provided at the January board meeting.

Mang said, “We can explore both options (vinyl and composite) and see what fits best.”

The “Hometown Heroes” banners are two-sided and would be located more on the “inside” of the street – leaning into the sidewalk and nearer the buildings – than directly over Center.

These airborne accolades would be on display from Memorial Day through Veterans Day.

“Hometown Heroes” banners are featured in several neighboring parts of the county, including the towns of Lewiston, Niagara and Porter.

“You see them all around New York state in different places,” Harrigan said. “The idea is to have prior residents, current residents, families, or the veterans themselves, put up a banner display as part of remembrance, reflection and honoring service.”

Mayor Anne Welch said, “We’re here trying to work things out to make it look nice.”

Metro Creative Graphics

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New water laws in the works

•Trustees held a public hearing on proposed Local Law No. 05-2024 – a revision to section 20-50 of the code book. This idea was first presented at the November board meeting, and addresses building sewers and connections, as well as classes of building sewer permits. The full text can be found HERE (PDF).

Mang explained, “The revision is because of the overwhelming of the water treatment center, and it's going to implement mandatory sump pumps for resale on the homes in the village … in addition to some other code changes for sewer. It's going to be a benefit to the village. It's going to reduce any of these issues that we've been having over the years, with some flooding with backups inside the homes. It also is going to keep the treatment costs down.”

No residents spoke on the matter prior to the board approving this change in the law.

Welch said, “This is something we’ve had for years – the infiltration problems – and this is how we need to address it.”

•A public hearing will take place inside the Red Brick Municipal Building at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16, on a proposed change to village code section 10-27 – requirement to replace galvanized service lines upon sale of a home.

This modification notes, “Upon inspection of the water service lines, any galvanized service lines found must be replaced by the homeowner in order to pass inspection upon the sale of the home, with either copper or PEX material.”

Find the full text HERE (PDF).

The DPW is looking into outfits that can inventory the municipality’s service lines.

Per the New York State Department of Health, “On Dec. 16, 2021, the federal Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) went into effect. The revised rule requires every federally defined community and non-transient, non-community water system to develop a service line inventory (also called a lead service line inventory (LSLI) ).”

Some of the LSLI fees will be offset by the village’s water bill surcharge.

Mang explained, “We can't, in good conscience, allow someone to sell a house with an inferior water line. It should be part of the code. If you do an inspection on a house and you find something that's not up to standards, you make them change it. And this shouldn't be any different.

“It's also going to help us kind of supplement a lot of the costs for this LSLI excavation program that we're going to talk about soon. It'll actually allow the contractor to do some of the work for us – as they tie into the shut-off, they'll have to expose that, as well. So, it'll be a benefit to the village on both sides of that.”

What does this mean for residents?

In defining the LSLI’s purpose, the Environmental Protection Agency noted, “Service line inventories are the foundation from which water systems take action to address a significant source of lead in drinking water – lead service lines. Establishing an inventory of service line materials and identifying the location of LSLs is a key step in getting them replaced and protecting public health.”

Mang said, “With great confidence, I can tell you that the village does not have lead service lines. What we have are galvanized. So, unfortunately, the EPA has deemed that galvanized are part of this procedure. The reason for that, though, is not so much the health effects like you would get with lead. Galvanized is just a (deteriorated material). You get a lot of leaks; you get a lot of bad water pressure, things of that nature. But not health concerns.”

Residents who plan to sell a house with galvanized service lines would be required to replace them on their service side (from the shutoff to the house).

Beyond that, “Anything that's determined to be galvanized from the shutoff to the main, the village is prepared to absorb those costs and replace those with an adequate material,” Mang said.

Trustee Jim Fittante asked, “What’s our best recourse to tell our residents, if they want to investigate?”

Mang said, “We're taking submissions for photos, and then any submissions that are determined to be galvanized, we are putting on a priority list, and that is solely for the fact that … we're looking for contractors to assist us in this identification process.”

Boat launch fees increasing

Trustees voted to raise the Lewiston Landing boat launch fees and permits, as listed accordingly:

Residents will receive a price discount. Boat slip charges will remain the same for everyone.

Welch said, “Every so often, we’ve got to raise our fees.”

Clerk Shannon Fundis noted, “I researched municipalities in the area. Some charge similar; some charge a lot more. This was just a little bump in the pricing, because we haven’t changed these prices in a very long time.”

“That seems reasonable to me,” Trustee Nick Conde said.