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GOP Controlled Legislature To Approve Deal for Contributor

By Frank Parlato

Who will trade old lamps for new? The County owns this conveniently located and 10 year old storage facility which they plan to give away to a Republican contributor and then start renting from another Republican contributor for big bucks for a 60 year warehouse, inconveniently located....
Politically, we know where R. B. Mac stands: Campaign signs adorn the front of their offices for the good Republicans that appear to be so good in return to them

It is peculiar.

But I guess it’s how they do things in the highest taxed county in America.

A county under the dominion of a super-majority of Republicans.

The legislators are expected to vote today on a lease for a switch in the way they store their county records and to sell a prime parcel of land.

Niagara County plans to sell its two records' storage buildings as part of a Davison Road real estate deal and move its files to a former factory in Newfane.

The lease deal is with Lockport developer David L. Ulrich's Clear Opportunity Properties on part of the former Lockport Mattress Co. plant on Transit Road in Newfane. The county is proposing to lease about 28,000 square feet of vacant and possibly otherwise un-rentable warehouse space at the price of $4.45 per square foot – which is top dollar for warehouse space in vacant and obsolete warehouses. It comes to $123,000 per year.

Has anybody looked into the fair market value for storage space in Niagara County? Have any of the county legislators who are expected to vote on this even seen the facility?

Ulrich is a big time Republican contributor who donated $43,050 to Republican State Sen. George Maziarz.

He also contributes to other Republicans.

The Republican legislators also plan to sell their current storage facilities to a Republican contributor, R.B Mac Construction and for a price that appears to be less than its true market value.

The price, according to assistant County Attorney R. Thomas Burgasser, will be less than $160,000. But as of press time no one knows for sure how much less.

The storage facility the county will be turning over cost the county at least $500,000 to build only 10 years ago.

The vice president of R. B. Mac, according to public records is Robert Burke, a Republican active in Niagara County and Lockport politics. Campaign disclosure reports show the company made numerous donations to Lockport Republican Supervisor Marc Smith.

Besides the half-million dollar storage facility, the sweetheart deal also includes the former county infirmary, later called the Switzer Building, along with a chapel, two houses, a burned-out former maintenance building and an empty parks building near the adjoining golf course and acres of land with prime road frontage.

Curiously included, if the sale is made, will be the only restrooms for the golf course maintenance workers, who will either be forced to find secluded trees or the county will have to build new restrooms for these workers.

Chances are the cost of new restrooms will exceed the sales price of the Davidson Road land.

It is not known if an RFP process or independent appraisals have been made on the site to determine the market value of the Davidson property.

According to a report in the Buffalo News, originally, the records' buildings weren't supposed to be included in the deal to R. B Mac, but County Manager Jeffery Glatz said, "There's a roof in one of the buildings that needs repair badly. I didn't want to invest any money in the old records' buildings."

Strange. Rather than invest in a roof on a building you own that cost taxpayers $500,000, you would rather give it away and start renting a building for $123,000 per year.

Wayne Jagow, the county clerk, told the Reporter that the county needs the extra space but curiously the man who is responsible for keeping records admitted that the first he knew of the sale of the Lockport facility was last week.
The public has a right to know much more about this deal and the Reporter intends to look into it carefully.

This isn’t the first time Ulrich got a lease from county Republicans.

About 10 years ago, according to sources, the county moved the Auto Bureau and most of the Lockport Social Services Office into a building owned by Ulrich, abandoning a building on Davison Road. The county also rented his Golden Triangle building which houses the DMV, human resources and other county offices.

Ulrich also owned a building that NCCC rents.

According to sources working for the county, Ulrich has a history of buying property, getting gilt edged leases, then selling the properties with the county leases in play to support the top prices he gets.

David Ulrich, County legislators Clyde L. Burmaster, William L. Ross, Anthony J. Nemi, Richard E. Updegrove, William Keith McNall and John Syracuse did not return calls from the Reporter.

 

 

Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com Oct 02 , 2012