Erie County highway crews are ready to help Cheektowaga finally remove tree limbs piled along county-maintained roads since the freak October storm.

But one lawmaker, using a procedural right, derailed the plan Thursday for at least a few weeks.

Amherst Republican Michael H. Ranzenhofer said he worried that the special $49,000 arrangement for Cheektowaga would open the floodgates for other towns seeking similar relief, creating an expensive undertaking the county cannot afford.

“I know that other legislators have the same concern, and the concern is, ‘Why are the other towns doing it on their own?’ ” Ranzenhofer said. He is among suburban-district lawmakers who want more spent on road repairs.

“We have roads and bridges that are falling apart, and they are an embarrassment,” Ranzenhofer said.

Four of the Legislature’s 15 members have districts that reach into Cheektowaga, so the proposal easily drew a base of support. Also, the county administration is on good terms with the lawmaker who represents the heart of the town, Democrat Thomas Mazur. He had helped shape the agreement.

County Executive Joel A. Giambra was willing to let the Highway Department help Cheektowaga clear the debris, even though county officials felt they were not obligated to do so. But the Legislature also agreed unanimously in a recent vote that it wants to cooperate with towns where storm debris remains a problem.

Under the Legislature’s rules, Mazur needed every lawmaker to agree to add the “intermunicipal agreement” with Cheektowaga to Thursday’s agenda. A single holdout would send it to a committee.

Ranzenhofer drew protests when he snapped his objection. But nothing could be done.

“This objection represents what’s wrong with county government,” said Democrat Timothy Kennedy of Buffalo, whose district reaches into Cheektowaga. “Cheektowaga did their due diligence, and they are being penalized because of it.”

The agreement was sent to Kennedy’s Economic Development Committee, which meets at 10 a.m. Thursday in Old County Hall. The full Legislature meets again June 28.

Legislators met Thursday against the backdrop of another midyear cash shortage. In recent years, the government by summer strains to pay its bills because reimbursements for big-ticket social programs have yet to arrive from the state and federal governments.

Lawmakers Thursday agreed with Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz to borrow $100 million in the middle of this month so the government, which spends about $3 million a day, can continue paying its bills for the rest of the year and meet the end-of-June payroll of about $13 million.

But the Legislature’s decision, approved 11-2, sets up another test of wills with the state-appointed control board.

The Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority is pressing to use its better credit rating to borrow money for the government. Its officials reason they can save about $146,000 by borrowing the $100 million and want lawmakers to use them, and their underwriter, instead of Poloncarz.

Poloncarz agrees the control board can obtain a better interest rate, but the savings diminish when figuring in the professional fees the board will pay.

mspina@buffnews.com

Copyright 2007 - The Buffalo News