In a classic example of the wishful thinking that has characterized much of her administration, Mayor Irene Elia announced on June 26 that the settlement reached between the city and Niagara Falls Redevelopment on the Splash Park property took the matter "out of the courts."
She should be so lucky.
As you read this, attorneys for Klewin Construction and the Seneca Gaming Corp. are debating exactly who should sue the city to determine liability for the destruction of trees and concrete berms at the Splash Park earlier this year.
Back in January, the city authorized the Senecas to begin clearing the site to provide parking for the Seneca Niagara Casino. There was only one problem. Elia had no right to authorize any work on the property, since it was at the center of litigation involving the city, NFR and local attorney John Bartolomei, who developed the Splash Park in the first place.
Crews from a Klewin subcontractor, Armand Cerrone Inc., entered the property and began clearing the land. The work was stopped when state Supreme Court Justice Ralph Boniello issued a restraining order and threatened city officials with jail time for contempt of court.
Bartolomei sued Cerrone for damages. Cerrone sued Klewin, as Klewin had directed the work be undertaken. Klewin was working for the Senecas, and has the option of either suing them or suing the city, which, after all, authorized the illegal work.
Once again, the city's law department has become the laughingstock of the legal community.
"It would have been the easiest thing in the world to have included this in the Splash Park settlement," one prominent local attorney told the Reporter. "The city really dropped the ball on this."
The tangle of litigation concerning the Splash Park -- capped last week when Eddy Cogan initiated a hostile takeover of NFR's assets from his partner Howard Milstein -- has the Senecas shaking their heads. Originally touted as the site of the tribe's next casino, the Splash Park's future ownership has again been called into question.
Klewin is reportedly in the process of shutting down one of its two Niagara Falls offices, a signal, some say, that there will be no construction before the end of the year.
And that's bad news for all of us who live here.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | July 8 2003 |