Niagara Falls Water Board votes to change officers
Sep. 23—The arrival of two new members on the Niagara Falls Water Board has led to a shake-up in leadership.
Out are veteran water board chair Nicholas Forster and vice chair Colleen Larkin. They have been replaced by two new members, Richard Sirianni and James Dean.
Neither Forster nor Larkin attended the board's Monday night meeting, where the changes were made official. Forster was reportedly dealing with a death in his family.
Larkin said she was absent because, "I didn't want to be party to a vote when the person who has been the chair for the past four years couldn't be there because of a death in the family."
Sirianni, a former Town of Niagara Board member and the town's current highway superintendent, is the new water board chair. Dean, an employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Buffalo, is the new vice chair.
Long-time board member Renae Kimble is now the board treasurer. Sirianni said Kimble declined efforts to elevate her to board chair.
"I think from what we've been hearing there are a lot of procedures here that haven't been followed," Sirianni said, "And a majority of the board wanted to go in a different direction."
Sirianni has said he expects a new board majority to undertake aggressive oversight of water board operations.
In a pair of unanimous 3-0 votes, the board confirmed the new officers and amended to board's by-laws to shorten officer terms from two years to one and allow for the removal of officers at any time for any reason.
On July 1, Gov. Kathy Hochul shook up the water board with the appointment of Sirianni, to replace long-time board member Gretchen Leffler whose term had expired.
At the end of July, the Falls City Council removed its water board appointee Michael Asklar. He later resigned his post. The council then appointed Dean as his replacement.
Members of the council cited "numerous complaints" about decisions made by members of the water board and said they were "dissatisfied with Asklar's performance.
