Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The City of Buffalo has plans to move its Department of Public Works to better serve the needs of employees and residents.
During a community development committee meeting in the Buffalo Common Council chambers Tuesday, Buffalo Public Works Commissioner Nate Marton provided the committee with an update on where the city is on relocating all DPW operations and resources.
listen to WBEN now!
"...pleased to announce that yesterday, we actually received three responses to our RFP that was issued through the Office of Strategic Planning. So OSP has actually been leading the process of this development, the new campus development and it's been a conversation that precedes my time, certainly by a number of years and a number of Commissioners, actually," said Marton.
Marton provided a little bit of background.
"OSP, actually issued an RFQ or request for qualifications on April 29 of last year, and we received four responses... development entities, who could assist the city. Those were received on June 3rd. We qualified each of those recipients and then forwarded them an RFQ, or that next formal step of the process. So that was sent out on February 17th. We received three or four submissions just yesterday, the deadline was 5 p.m."
As Marton notes, these discussions for a new location for the DPW have been going on for years, but conversation resurfaced in part due to Councilman Rasheed Wyatt's resolution looking for answers and Governor Hochul's announced $10 million in funding in February as part of her state budget plan for the City of Buffalo to create a new "Office of Recovery and Planning" for storm emergencies like the recent Blizzard of 2022.
"I think that with all the issues, as it relates to facilities and snow removal, to have a facility, centrally located will be ideal. I know that's not going to be easy," said Councilman Rasheed Wyatt.
The Department of Public Works house their fleet and supplies in what is referred to as the Broadway Barns at 201 Broadway, which was used as a state arsenal and eventually an armory in the mid-to-late 1800s.
Preservation Buffalo Niagara is looking to preserve this building as a historic landmark. The original date set for public comment from the Buffalo Preservation Board was originally set for April 27th, but that date has been pushed back by several weeks, according to Tim Tielman of Campaign for Greater Buffalo.
You can listen to my interview with Campaign for Great Buffalo's Tim Tealman on those efforts and the history of the property in the player below:
Marton estimates the cost of this facility cost about $60 million. As part of the proposals, the developers had to identify potential locations.
"It could be city owned, or it could be private owned," said Marton. "We're looking at a number of different models. Potential purchase, if we don't purchase, lease, lease back and lease to purchase. So there's a couple of different ways we could look at the overall construction and financing and delivery of a building like that, again, from a resource standpoint, [we're looking at] what makes the most sense financially for us."
Wyatt stressed the importance of having the community involved in the process of what they want to see in a new DPW facility.
"I think my resolution was timely, because if that's where they are, right now. I don't want them to go too far down the road without getting public input," said Wyatt.
"Because sometimes we paint the picture and say, 'Do you like it?' Instead of saying, 'What do you want, what colors, how we mix it?' And I think that's really important at this stage to make sure that again, this is a facility that can meet the needs of the public in the communities that they serve."