Four towns in Niagara County may be coming together in an effort to bring reduced cost electric to their communities. Leaders from the Town of Niagara, Lewiston, Porter, and the Village of Youngstown met in a very preliminary discussion on just what it would take to make electric a government run utility in their communities, and what the impact would be financially to the community and the private citizen. Leaders have realized that National Grid is charging 22 cents per kilowatt, which they are purchasing from the New York Power Authority for 1.5 cents per killowatt. Something just doesn’t add up.
Leaders met with Alfred Coppola, who was leading an initiative in the City of Buffalo to put electric in the hands of the government. Among the topics discussed were the successes other municipalities have had, both in New York and elsewhere, as well as the roadblocks he faced along the way. He pointed out Akron, NY which runs their electric utility on a 4 employee crew, and is able to deliver electric at a drastically reduced cost to their community. According to Coppola, Perry’s Ice Cream stays in Akron for that very reason.
Coppola also stated the next step would be a feasibility study, to determine what sort of costs would be associated with taking control of the grid, including purchasing the infrastructure and other necessities. Local leaders plan to meet with consultants in the near future.
[The Buffalo News]
A colleague referred me to this document recently while we were having coffee. I decided to give it a look over, and found that a lot of these principles can be applied to my own business – perhaps you can apply them to yours as well?
1. It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.
2. Get mad, then get over it.
3. Avoid having your ego so close to your position that, when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
4. It can be done!
5. Be careful what you choose, you may get it.
6. Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.
7. You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours.
8. Check small things.
9. Share credit.
10. Remain calm. Be kind.
11. Have a vision. Be demanding.
12. Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers.
13. Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.
As of March 15, 2011, the Statler Towers have finally changed hands! Mark Croce completed the purchase of the property through his business, Statler City LLC, late in the afternoon on Wednesday. The purchase price was approximately $700,000 – $200,000 of which went toward the purchase of the building and $500,000 went to pay off the back taxes that were owed against the building.
In a small ceremony on the ground floor of the building, the bankruptcy clerk Morris Horwitz signed the deed and handed it to Erie County Clerk Cathy Hochul. Croce is currently working on a comprehensive building renovation plan, to be completed in phases, to bring the building back to life. The property has been sitting vacant since January 2010. Croce is asking for $5.3 million in public funds to complete the immediate emergency stabalization work that needs to be completed. These repairs include fixing the leaking roofs, as well as beginning to stabalize masonry which is crumbling.
Croce’s redevelopment plan calls to immediately get the grand ballrooms and some office space up and running as soon as October, and will then redevelop the remainder of the 18 story building as office and residential space, as the market dictates.
Erie Community College is moving forward with plans to build a new facility at their north campus. The Center for Excellence will be approximately 100,000sqft, and is expected to cost about $30 million to build. Of that $30 million, New York State is expected to kick in approximately $15 million, with Erie County kicking in $7.5 million. This will be the first major development on north campus since 1960.
The Kideney Architects has been selected as the group that will design the structure. They were chosen by a selection committee after a competitive process.
ECC recognized the need to build an expansion to the north campus due to a decline in enrollment, because students were choosing other campuses such as Niagara County Community College, and other state and private schools. ECC North campus is currently supporting almost 7,000 students, which the current facilities can not continue to handle.
