City secures $1.3 million for water project | News, sports, jobs

OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Municipality of Dunkirk Supervisor Priscilla Penfold revealed “really good news for the city” at a recent meeting.

For the past three years, the City of Dunkirk has been trying to secure grants from New York State to support a capital improvement project for the Shorewood Water District.

Over the past two years, Town swung and missed. Until the latest attack, the city was making another attempt at a grant through the state’s Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA) program.

At a recent special meeting of the city council, Supervisor Priscilla Penfold announced the result: the city hit a home run.

The City of Dunkirk was recently awarded a grant through the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation’s WIIA program for up to $1,377,000.

‘This is really good news for the city’ said Dunkirk Town Supervisor Priscilla Penfold.

The grant funding will apply to the Shorewood Water District capital improvement project. To remain eligible to receive the WIIA grant, the municipality must enter into a project financing agreement by September 30, 2026.

The city plans to implement a new water line at the Shorewood Water District, among many other updates across the city. However, because the roads are so narrow in many parts of the city, easements are often necessary for work to continue. Such is the case with the Shorewood Water District.

Architects from CPL, in collaboration with Municipal Solutions, submitted the subsidy application this year. The council agreed to compensate CPL for securing 89 easements throughout the Shorewood district, for a total of $26,477.50, which could be reimbursed through grant funding.

In recent months, securing the 89 required easements has not been a smooth process, as many residents have been reluctant to grant permission for the project to proceed. As of mid-June, only 18 of the 89 required easements had been signed and filed with the city. The municipality held several information meetings where an engineer was present to answer any questions residents had about the project, and a notary was present at each meeting to assist with the signing process.

Three months later, in mid-September, outstanding easements dropped from 71 to 28. When the council was notified of the grant award, the process to secure the remaining easements was still ongoing.

If the city is unable to secure the necessary easements for the project to proceed, the city reserves the right to pursue legal action through eminent domain – a government process that converts private property into public use. Any costs the Shorewood Water District incurs during the process – including legal fees – would be recovered from all members of the district, not just those who have not filed their easement.

Easements can be filed at the municipal clerk’s office, located in the town hall and court, open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., unless otherwise stated.

The City Council also recently approved a contract with iWorQ, a cloud-based software system to help the City with its code enforcement, zoning and other related City tasks. Members of the city council met with a representative from iWorQ to discuss the opportunities it would bring to the municipality.

“I think it’s a great instrument. It will really improve efficiency,” Councilor Shari Miller said.

City councilor Jean Crane added: “We are a busy office. We definitely need that.”

The city also stated that it plans to continue with its certificate of deposit (CD) savings account at Community Bank. The value of the account exceeds $500,000, before receiving interest. Crane said the city has generated a significant amount of interest through the use of the CD account.

The next meeting of the Dunkirk City Council is Tuesday, November 19 at 5:30 PM at the Dunkirk City Hall and Courthouse.