The City of Salamanca Municipal Building at 22 Wildwood Ave.

SALAMANCA — As a demonstration of its commitment to housing growth in Salamanca, the Common Council on May 28 passed a resolution affirming the city of Salamanca’s participation in the New York State Pro-Housing Community Program.

“This came about because I happened to see some grant money out there, and for one of the grants, you have to be a Pro-Housing community to apply,” said Mayor Sandra Magiera.

Mayor Sandra Magiera

Magiera said she and Jay Bartoszek, city administrator, met to go over all the city needs to do to be a part of the program and apply for the grant.

“There’s a lot of paperwork. It’s a big process,” she said. “But we’re going ahead with it.”

New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) has established the Pro-Housing Community Program to support municipalities that are actively working to remove barriers to housing growth and expansion.

The city of Salamanca recognizes the need to expand housing opportunities to support current residents, attract new residents, revitalize underutilized properties and sustain long-term economic vitality.

Participation in the Pro-Housing Community Program may improve the city’s eligibility and competitiveness for various state programs and economic development initiatives.

“They do provide a lot of support on how to get us where we need to be,” Bartoszek said.

As part of the resolution, the city agrees to commit to submitting all necessary documentation in support of the city’s application, including zoning maps, zoning code summary and housing permit data from 2018–2022; and designate the city administrator to serve as the primary contract for all communications related to the Pro-Housing Community certification process.

The council approved a resolution authorizing the Board of Public Utilities to secure financing through a bond to purchase a 2025 Camel Max 1200 Ejector/Sewer Cleaner (vacuum truck) from Cyncon Equipment, in the amount of $515,059.

BPU General Manager Denis Hensel said the truck has both a water tank and a vacuum tank, which would allow the BPU to perform several functions they currently are not able to.

“We’ve had the EPA tour with us, and some of the lift stations around town have fatty deposits and grease, and we don’t have any way to remove that,” he said. “This truck will help us stay  EPA compliant by allowing us to vacuum all of that out of our lift stations and not have to treat that at the treatment plant.”

Though a larger truck, Hensel said it’s self-sustaining, carries its own materials and can even dig a hole using water alone, which he said is handy for installing electrical poles.

Hensel noted that the payments for the bond would not lead to an increase in water and sewer bills.

IN OTHER BUSINESS, the council accepted a proposal from HUNT Engineers, of Horseheads, for engineering services for the design and administration of the Wildwood Avenue mill and overlay project for $31,500 plus fees.

The project covers approximately 0.6 miles of Wildwood between Main Street and the intersection where the road transitions into routes 219 and 417 near the Clinton Street Bridge.

“It’s a busy street and it’s in bad shape,” Magiera said. “It’s the only other main street that we haven’t done any work on.”

Mike Reed, D-Ward 4, also noted that a lot of city hall traffic, primarily police and fire emergency vehicles, use Wildwood Avenue when leaving the municipal center.

Excluding the state arterials that run through Salamanca, busy streets that the city has done paving projects on in recent years include Main Street, East State Street, West State Street, North State Street, Sycamore Avenue and Front Avenue.

The state DOT oversees Broad Street, Clinton Street, Center Street, Central Avenue and the portion of Wildwood Avenue that carries routes 219 and 417.