Plans for Moving Forward in the City of Lockport

I will continue to be fully committed to my duties of city of mayor and work diligently with the citizens of our great city to share the decision making with all vested parties (residents, elected officials, unions, department leaders, workers, staff, community organizations, small and big business leaders). Our community is growing stronger with a brighter future because of volunteers, community organizations, city businesses, and our city workers. Together we will continue the progress we have made in making Lockport's future obtainable and sustainable for all of our residents and businesses in every ward.

We are working toward a Lockport that is a vibrant and healthy community. One in which we have a viable system of transportation that is more accessible to not only employment, but city services and community events. We have started this through our partnership with the Discover Niagara Shuttle, which will expand their FREE services in the spring and summer of 2023. Safer streets with police, fire, and city workers participating in our communities and building sound infrastructure including water/sewer drainage, healthy trees, and a park system that creates a positive environment for our youth and families to gather. We have made great strides in returning ambulance service to our community and this should be up and running sometime in March. This will greatly enhance the quality of life for all residents and attract businesses to invest in our area even more. We have partnered with NYS DEC to tackle the Gulf Interceptor Sewer Project and they invested millions to upgrade the first phase, as we begin to gather grants to help finish phase 2 over the next few years. We have also partnered with the EPA to utilize the pipe they will use to divert the 18mile Creek from the upcoming clean up efforts to repurpose it for upgrades to our sewer system on Water Street.

Under Mayor Roman's leadership we have started to reinvest in our community parks not only with the council's approval of $275,000 in capital projects in our city parks in 2021, but also in obtaining grants totaling over $550,000 for our new and improved permanent concrete skatepark that will be complete in the summer of 2023. We have returned our Youth and Recreations services in three parks, as well as our Community Pool, including lessons. We added free Kickball in the Parks, as well as Two-Hand Touch Football. We are adding a new pocket park to the Market Street Trail with an updated resting station with lavatory facilities, a pavilion, and parking improvements by the North Adam Street Bridge. We updated bathroom facilities at Wide Waters Marina to be universally accessible.

Our city government is citizen-centric and listens to the residents, small business owners, community organizations, city officials, public employees, and collaborates with the county, state, and federal agencies to improve our quality of life. The stakeholders of our community work together to create and maintain a city that is inclusive of all residents and welcoming to visitors in all areas, not just downtown and along the canal. We have been able to procure more grants to help small businesses of 5-25 employees, as well as through micro grants for small businesses up to 5 employees. We have been able to get grants for first time home buyers to purchase their homes in the city of Lockport, as well as grants to help with home improvements. We have received grants to help local organizations like the Dale Association and others as they struggled through COVID. Millions of dollars through private investments have been infused into our community, along with all of the grants we have been able to obtain. Businesses are coming to our area and a number of the ones which have been a part of our community over time are expanding.

Community coalitions will allow us to move forward together through positive action like in areas of affordable housing, improvements of current housing conditions, and dealing with derelict or abandoned properties and beautifying public spaces. More citizen involvement on committees that are representative of the community promotes a vested interest in the community. Residents will become invested in the city and build public trust while addressing the needs of every citizen. Providing equitable services to all neighborhoods at all times, also demonstrates that every citizen matters and builds a sense of pride in the community.

These are areas that we have started to address and will continue to build upon, as long as I have the honor of serving as mayor for our wonderful City of Lockport. I believe a stronger Lockport is made possible through stronger resident voice.

With a new council we have updated our noise ordinance and are exploring ways to relieve the parking issues many deal with in the City. We are developing a vacant property registry, and other critical areas that are of concern to the quality of life for our residents. We can also see the completion of several projects already in the works like the comprehensive plan update, updating the zoning code, installing a generator at our raw water pump station to secure fresh water no matter the weather or power outage. We continue to improve our water and sewer infrastructure, as well.