He's been with the Niagara Falls Water Board for a quarter century but has just finished up his first week as its new executive director. Patrick Fama, who held the position on an acting basis until he was approved for a three-year contract, sat with WBFO to discuss challenges including an aged infrastructure, figuring out how to pay for needed repairs and an upcoming required test for lead levels.
Fama's previous roles with the Water Board include laboratory technician, microbiologist, operations, and management of the city's drinking water plant. Earlier this year, he was named acting executive director and in March was promoted to the position, lifting the "acting" tag from his title.
Fama sat with WBFO as he was completing his first week in his latest role. He explained that his knowledge of the people and facilities, and their familiarity with him, has helped him enjoy respect and support from within the organization.
"I want to make certain that they understand the communication, that I'm here to speak with all the employees. And I'm a voice for the employees," Fama said. "I am a steward to the ratepayers. I believe the ratepayers are very important. We need to prioritize spending and try to keep rates down to a point as low as possible."
Fama and his peers are working to set a list of priorities for repairs within an infrastructure featuring very old pipes. The drinking water facility is running well, according to Fama. But the city's wastewater treatment system has experienced problems, most notably storm runoffs caused by rainfall greater than what the system could handle, resulting in discharges of untreated water into the Niagara River. The city has sought help and last year, Albany announced more than $20 million in funding to help improve the wastewater treatment system.
The work Fama believes is ideal, though, would cost much more than that, closer to $1 billion. But he tells WBFO the city is in compliance with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Next year, the city will be scheduled to undergo a once-every-three-year study of its water system for lead. He worked in the Water Board's lab when the city tested a phosphate to see if it would coat lead pipes. The city is using a different but safe agent now, he explained, to continue coating its pipes.
"As the lab director I have intimate knowledge of those numbers and we have always been in compliance," he said.
Nearby, the Erie County Water Authority in recent months has made several moves to increase its transparency to the public, following a report by the State's Authorities Budget Office which criticized its administrative practices. Fama was asked about the Niagara Falls Water Board's efforts to promote transparency.
"We have been speaking with the DEC on a day-to-day basis about goings on in the watewater plant. We have great communications with the DEC," he said. "As far as the public, all of our meetings are on our website. Anything that anyone wants to see, any of the agendas, all of the minutes are on the website. If a person would like to come to a meeting, the meetings are posted. The days and the times of the meetings are posted. Someone can come and sit. They're all open to the public. If a person would like to just visit and see what happens at the meetings, they're more than welcome."
