Kevin Cottrell and wife Heather told the Reporter in a taped interview that they are shutting down Motherland Connextions because it is a “conflict of interest” with his public position as promoter of the Underground Railroad heritage tourism efforts in the region.

The City of Niagara Falls ’ Underground Railroad promoter Kevin Cottrell, caught by the Niagara Reporter in a conflict of interest, said he is going to shut down his private tour company to avoid all appearances of impropriety going forward.

“This project is far bigger than what personal gain Motherland Connextions can afford me,” said Cottrell during a telephone interview with Publisher Frank Parlato amid a growing scandal that began when he was caught selling Underground Railroad tours through his private business in violation of his agreement with the city and state which pay him $74,800 a year to promote the Underground Railroad.

Cottrell was suspended for five days without pay by Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster last week after this newspaper reported on his activities in selling tours through Motherland Connextions in violation of his written agreement not to engage in his private tour business while collecting a public salary.

Cottrell said that he and his wife, Heather, will close Motherland Connextions by the end of June, conceding that questions about conflict of interest could dog the project if it continued to book tours to locations associated with the Underground Railroad in Erie and Niagara Counties.

“The project is far bigger than one person or one company,” Cottrell said, adding that he wants to complete the project for the benefit of the entire region.

In announcing the five-day suspension last week, Mayor Dyster said he believed Cottrell’s actions in offering to sell tours through his private company to Underground Railroad sites was an isolated transgression. Cottrell agreed to sell the tours to an operative for this newspaper and we reported on his actions in our edition of May 15, triggering the investigation that led to his suspension.

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In a follow up story last week, we reported that the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Commission was two years late in filing a detailed financial accounting of $350,000 in city money it received in 2010. An attorney for the commission, Larry Rubin, now says a full accounting has been made, blaming the delay on Albany red tape.

For the record: Cottrell is not a member of the Commission; the Commission was incorporated by Rubin in July, 2010; City Controller Maria Brown told the Reporter $350,000 paid by check was mailed to Rubin’s law offices in Buffalo.