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Common Council Report

Minding the business of the people

• The controversial Sycamore Village project reported offers to buy its first six houses, at prices ranging from $201,765 to $212,348. If that sounds like a lot for a new-build at the corner of Sycamore and Jefferson, bear in mind that estimates of the cost to build each house range from $400,000 to $600,000 each. That high number is due to the cost of environmental remediation of the property, not to mention tearing down and landfilling the houses that had been built there prior to the remediation.

The Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency reports that nine of the 10 houses planned for the project’s first phase are near completion, and six of the nine houses in the second phase are likewsie close to finished. The third phase comprises six more houses, all priced similarly to those six that have received offers.

Before the sales can be approved, the Common Council must hold a public hearing That hearing takes place on October 14 at 2pm in Council Chambers.

• City Comptroller Andy SanFilippo issued a report recommending that the Broadway Amherst District Management Association be dissolved. BADMA has a contract with the city to peform basic street maintenance in its bsiness district—shovel snow, empty litter bins, maintain garden beds, etc.—but SanFilippo’s audit, performed at the request of University District Councilmember Bonnie Russell, found BADMA had been lax in delivering services. Further, he said, the organization lacked a functional board, and failed to provide financial records requested by the comptroller.

• North District Councilmember Joe Golombek submitted a resolution asking that Council President Dave Franczyk empanel a commission to study the city manager-city council model of city government, currently employed by 58 percent of US cities with populations over 100,000. The resolution was sent to committee, which means it could be open to serious discussion as early as Tuesday, October 7.

geoff kelly

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