Gallo listens to public comment
KINGSTON – Mayor Shayne Gallo said he will sign into law a change
in the Kingston City Charter allowing the city council the power to sign
off on contracts for the sale of public water outside the city limits.
The amendment was approved unanimously, and now must be approved by a
referendum of the voters next November.
A popular uprising occurred earlier this year when Niagara Bottling Company
attempted to lease water from a city-owned reservoir located in the Town
of Ulster. Current law prevented the city council from having standing
before the Ulster Planning Board.
The current amendment to the city charter attempts to remedy that problem.
Niagara’s lease proposal was eventually withdrawn in the face of
widespread public opposition.
Water Commissioner Abel Garraghan and the William Cloonan, commission
counsel warned that existing contracts have been on record for decades,
which cannot be overridden by newly passed laws. Gallo agreed, but said
that transparency and accountability must also play a role in city business.
“We have to reconcile the public’s concerns that have surfaced
within this time, and acknowledge the public has a right at least to consider
this resolution on the ballot in November,” the mayor stated at
the close of a public hearing on the matter held Thursday.
