Buffalo Common Council Summary: Week of September 5, 2022

Buffalo Common Council Summary: Week of September 5, 2022

Date: September 16, 2022
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By Rose Thomas |

Each week, PPG summarizes important takeaways from the major Buffalo Common Council meetings. We also include information from Council meetings related to our Community Agenda items

For this summary, we will focus on the Regular Meeting. The Regular Meeting is the Common Council's primary meeting, where they make official decisions on issues.

During the Regular Meeting, Common Council discussed a petition from residents to stop the Hopewell Opioid Center in the Cleve-Hill Plaza. Councilmember Wyatt stated that the residents were not interested in having an opioid center in their residential area and that he and the Assembly Majority Leader Peoples-Stokes would meet with Senator Kennedy to resolve this issue. He reported that the opioid centers had been a trainwreck in other communities and would continue fighting.

Council President Pridgen spoke out against the opening of the opioid center. Council Member Wyatt stated they are not considering the Buffalo community members and want to start lobbying with our state officials. While he is not necessarily against treatment centers, he found it in bad taste to put them in this area. Council Members Wingo and Rivera also agreed that while there is a need for methadone/opioid clinics, they should be in a designated area such as a medical campus or even outside of Buffalo since most of the clientele are coming from surrounding areas and counties. Pridgen requested Councilmember Wyatt to inquire about zoning laws to decipher what businesses are allowed versus not allowed to be created in different regions. He also recommended that he have this in writing and that Oasis should attend a Council meeting to discuss this further. 

Common Council discussed the waterfront in the North District, where Councilmember Golombek hoped would not pin other districts against each other because he is striving for downtown areas to be vibrant. He has noticed that residents would be apprehensive of new changes to the waterfront and try to link development to more attractions and bring in outsiders. However, Golombek stated that many community groups have been coming together to create plans of what they envision and referring back to the West Turtle Association, which, in the past, drew out what they wanted to see at Unity Island. 

The council member envisions change and development in other parts of Buffalo since residents don't have transportation to areas like Unity Island. He said he wants to hold himself accountable and get city funding for Riverside Park. Council President Pridgen ended the Council meeting speaking of how he would like to create a searchable database where people can see if there is a street closure near their residence. He has heard from multiple constituents that this poses an inconvenience for many and doesn't know when the closures will happen or how long they will last. 

Need more than just a summary? Contact us at info@ppgbuffalo.org, or find full meeting information and schedules here: http://buffalony.iqm2.com/Citizens/Default.aspx