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Town will FOIL 'stonewalling' state
By John J. Hopkins Times
New York State's Freedom of Information Law, commonly referred to as "FOIL," is generally used by citizens to obtain information that a government may be reluctant to divulge. On Wednesday, the town itself used this method and filed a FOIL request to obtain information that state officials have thus far refused to disclose.
The town is seeking information on the Statewide Wireless Network and a 250-foot tower for the network, built off Indian Road. However, they have been rebuffed every time they seek answers.
A recent conversation with officials from the New York State Office for Technology, (OFT) which is responsible for building the network, provided no answers.
Deputy Town Attorney Jeffrey Whiting said that the OFT's "repetitive" response was that the $2 billion network is the largest undertaking the department has ever attempted.
The Indian Road tower is one of 36 the OFT is erecting in Erie and Chautauqua counties. The office declined to provide the town with the locations of the other towers.
"They made it sound like an issue of homeland security," said Supervisor James J. Jankowiak.
Because of the project's massive size, the OFT took a generic approach for the mandatory State Environmental Quality Review.
"They looked at the project as a whole, without really considering specific sites," Whiting said. "They eventually did perform a SEQR, but how site specific it is is questionable."
Cheektowaga officials asked the OFT for specific information, but the state was not forthcoming.
"It's fair to say we all felt a little stonewalled," Whiting stated.
Councilmember Tom Johnson termed the discussion as "a lot of talking without saying anything."
The town on August 15 issued a stop-work order after construction of the tower began. Although the tower is basically up, the state has complied with the order, and has not resumed work.
"They may have dilemmas," Johnson observed.
Johnson said that a contact at the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority informed him that the project's contractor, MA/COM, has not complied with all Federal Aviation Administration requirements.
At the advice of a technology advisor, the town has filed a FOIL seeking documents pertaining to 16 different items.
"I believe there are a number of discrepancies in information," Richard Comi of The Center for Municipal Solutions told the board Tuesday during a conference call. "There's conflicting information; there is missing and incomplete information."
Comi noted that one document refers to five communications dishes on the tower, but another document lists three dishes.
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