Vote planned on leasing part of city facility

The city has been negotiating with Calgon Carbon Corp. since January, said Paul J. Drof, superintendent of the city's water and wastewater facilities, after a 40-minute closed-door portion of a Common Council workshop Tuesday night in City Hall.

North Tonawanda officials have been looking for a partner in this endeavor for two or three years.

"It's something that I don't think has been tried around the area," Drof said.

Some terms of the deal would be disclosed after the Council vote Tuesday, though some would be withheld for proprietary reasons, he said. The city will receive revenue as part of the lease agreement, officials said.

Crews at the treatment plant spend two months out of the year taking used carbon and regenerating it so it works more efficiently in sanitizing applications.

The other 10 months of the year, the section of what's called the "carbon building" remains dormant. The building houses a furnace and other equipment, and the portion to be leased is about one-quarter of the space in the building.

Under the proposed deal, Calgon would lease that portion of the facility for its retail carbon production business, Drof said. Calgon would conduct a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week operation.

The company initially plans to hire about 12 to 15 employees from the area once the operation is up and running.

Calgon also plans to make a capital investment on site. The company plans to construct another building on the treatment plant grounds. In addition, it plans to lease warehouse space in the North Tonawanda area, Drof said.

The work that had been done by treatment facility employees, regenerating carbon for plant operations, will be done by Calgon workers. The arrangement will allow the city to refrain from moving employees from other tasks in order to do the regeneration, he said.

For every pound of carbon the city gives Calgon to be regenerated, the city will receive regenerated carbon in return as an in-kind service, Drof said.

The city has been dealing with Calgon since 1975; the relations include technical support from the company, as well as the city's buying carbon from the company.

At present, the city has to regenerate about 700,000 pounds of carbon each year, Drof said.

Drof also said he expects the agreement to save the city in costs for utilities and labor.

The Council, on Oct. 6, approved a memorandum of agreement between the city and Local 7692, Civil Service Employees Association, regarding the rights of union workers at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Lawmakers previously met with Drof in "executive session" during a workshop on Oct. 13.

In other city matters:

-- Jeffrey N. Mis, administrative assistant to Mayor Lawrence V. Soos, said it is believed the city will have taken in a record amount of revenue from Deerwood Golf Course this year. The revenue figure is expected to be about $1 million.

abesecker@buffnews.com

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