Published: August 25, 2008 06:39 pm            

NORTH TONAWANDA: Boathouse demo work could begin this week

Appeal is one of two by tenants on question of eviction, demolition

Bulldozers are ready to roll over nine boathouses on the Weatherbest strip.

But when they do, tenants hope it will clear the way for future legal action against the City of North Tonawanda.

An appeal on the eviction ruling, however, was overturned by Niagara County Court Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza on Thursday. The demolition appeal is still pending, said attorney Edwin Shoemaker, representing the Bond Street tenants in the matter. He is no longer seeking to block the demolition, which is imminent.

“If they’re going to demolish our property, they’re going to have to pay for it,” he said Monday.

Claims to that effect have already been filed with the city clerk’s office. In June, the city sought to have tenants pay, but the issue was thrown out by City Court Judge William Lewis.

Demolition contracts were approved by City Attorney Shawn Nickerson Monday. They await only the signature of Mayor Larry Soos, and the work is expected to begin in the next several days.

Mark Cerrone Inc., of Niagara Falls, was chosen to handle the job.

Under their contract, a separate value for demolition has been assigned to each of the boathouses individually, at between $5,900 and $7,900 apiece.

Eight of the structures to be razed have for decades been leased from the city, which owns the land, until officials opted not to renew the leases this spring. The ninth is part of the settlement of an old lawsuit against the city regarding improper auction to a private individual. Under that settlement, Nickerson said it was decided to knock it down.

“To keep the cost of doing that down, we decided to do it along with the others,” he said.

The question of ownership still weighs heavily with Shoemaker, who has long contended a 1942 deed used by the city is incorrectly interpreted, and the property belongs to New York state, not North Tonawanda.

Seasonal residents have fought tooth and nail for at least six months to keep the structures intact, but the city has placed high priority on ending about 50 years of lease renewals on the Weatherbest strip, near Bond Street.

Plans have circulated to build a park on the land.

        

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